An Exercise in Stupidity
by UnbreachableJericho
Summary: The World falling apart around him, a young man stomps forward and plays the Game of life. Poorly. Gamer AU, Starts during the Fall of Mount Glenn. OC that plays the game the only way he knows how; Aggressively. Featuring a mind unaffected by the Game, instead of being sculpted by it.
1. Prologue: Part 1

I had been in a bad state ever since the funeral, my caretaker Nan who was the hardest woman known to mankind taken down by pneumonia. An insult of the highest order as far as she had been concerned. I was convinced up until my sixteenth birthday that she ate nails and mortar for breakfast, but this was disproved when my excited self came down early to find her eating a cheese danish.

That moment, when I found such a tough woman daintily eating something so sweet, was still more disconcerting than the current dilemma.

I hadn't had many friends in school, too focused on being useless, and I suddenly had no one to turn to. Most of the other children I had gone to school had been problem children, as most of the Citizens were problem people it made a certain amount of sense, and I found myself unable to connect with most of them. Though, it wasn't entirely my fault as my classmates made little to no attempt to connect or interact with me in any meaningful way. Other than the Fights, which were meaningful in a sense. Meaningful in the sense that win or lose, fighting made my problem worse. As did the numerous scars I earned in the process. And in the end, I had no one to take me in or even pity me.

Thankfully, the school counselor got me set up with the Mount Glenn Orphan Fund, but most of that went into my rent as it was.

I had known that the way I was going, suddenly fired from my job after it was ransacked by a bunch of rioters and their "oppressors" and they could no longer afford to keep the chain store open. Through the walls of the room I was renting from a nice if intimidating stranger named Tuco I could hear gunfire and sirens, and I was sure that I could find a few fires if I looked hard enough.

The world had decided to take a large dump upon the Colony of Mount Glenn. Apparently putting all of the undesirable citizens of both Vale and Atlas in the same location and then having them elect leaders from the pool of already shoddy citizens was a surefire formula to collapse a colony.

Within two years we had already been the target of more than half of Grimm attacks upon colonies in the world, a number that only grew, and had a pretty bad morale problem. We provided nearly a quarter of projected Hunter Students despite having a thriving Preparation Academy, because we couldn't afford to lose anyone with the ability to use a gun and man the walls.

And then a month ago, Grimm began to invade through the Sewer systems and had the entire city burning as the government tried to contain it and Citizens began to form tribes and gangs to try and overthrow them while they were distracted.

All in all, the situation was not in the Valean and Atlesian Governments Favor.

But neither was my situation in _my_ favor.

 **Austin Whelp**

 **Lvl 1: 5/100 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 70/70 (Hp = (Con*10)*Lvl, Dth = -(Hp/3))**

 **Stm: 65/70 (Stm = Con*10)**

 **Str: 7**

 **Dex: 5**

 **Con: 7**

 **Agi: 5**

 **Int: 5 (-1)**

 **Wis: 5 (-1)**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 5**

 **Free Points; 15**

 **Passives:**

 **Iron Will; 50% decrease of Status effects applied to Austin. Ex. Cripple; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **?; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the** _ **?**_ **Skill.** _ **Inherited from ?.**_

 **?; ?.**

 **Relentless; Immune to Fatigue. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through ?.**_

At 0630 in the morning, easily the earliest I had woke up in a long time, I stared up from my place on my bed, convinced that I had finally snapped. The floating screen stayed front and center no matter where in my room I looked and it refused to go away and return with my sanity. I could feel the bed underneath me, I could feel the air being circulated by the fan I had bought two weeks ago with my stipend.

" _I wonder if I have Food Poisoning…?"_ and then the screen changed in response.

 **Status Effects:**

 **Hunger (Level 1); Stamina regeneration -100% until removed. 3 hours and 27 minutes until it progresses further.**

 **Confused (Level 2); Intelligence and Wisdom halved until removed.**

My stomach gurgled in response as I deadpanned at the screen. I knew that I was both hungry and confused, though why one was a different level than the other was probably the difference between a problem that can be dealt with and a mental illness. I glared at the screen that hadn't changed yet, almost demanding it go away with simply a look. Then I sighed and read the words again.

" _It says_ _ **Until Removed**_ _, which implies there are ways to get rid of them, but it doesn't tell me how,"_ I thought before I shook my head, " _It's a psychosis, not an interface if I ignore-"_

 **Status Effects:**

 **Hunger (Level 1); Stamina regeneration (-100%) -50% until removed. 3 hours and 27 minutes until it progresses further.**

 **-** _ **Remove by eating food, smartass.**_

 **Confused (Level 2); Intelligence and Wisdom (-50%) -25% until removed. Attempting to Access information above your Wisdom will progress this further.**

 **-** _ **Remove by figuring this out.**_

"Well at least it has my sense of humor," I thought morbidly, "I'm… I'm just going to ignore it." Honestly, it couldn't be much worse than playing with an imaginary screen.

 **Quest Started:** _ **The Little Things.**_

 _ **Remove your negative Status Effects.**_

 **Rewards: 10 exp and Self-Respect.**

I shook my head and waved it away from my face, thankfully it moved like a browser window and stayed where I put it. I stretched my hands above my head and cracked my fingers as I stumbled towards my mini fridge to pull out my dinner from last night, as well as my breakfast this morning. Once I had settled myself into the chair by my computer, the only real piece of furniture in the room beside my bed and the desk, I pulled the window back into focus and made a big procession of eating the piece of pizza.

 **Status Effects:**

 **Confused (Level 2); Intelligence and Wisdom (-50%) -25% until removed. Attempting to Access information requiring twice your Wisdom to decipher will progress this further.**

 **-** _ **Remove by figuring this out.**_

The window seemed to have taken a single bite of pizza as the act of eating, which I found funny before I went to take another bite, only to find my breakfast gone. Including the crusts, which I made a point not to eat. Pouting into my lap I looked back up at the screen to glare at it, " _Maybe_ I wanted to eat like a normal person instead of a RPG character," I said pointedly.

 **Quest Started:** _ **The Little Things.**_

 _ **Remove your negative Status Effects.**_

 _ **-Removed Hunger by eating and insulting the quest.**_

 **Rewards: 10 exp and Self-Respect.**

"Oh, shut up," I growled at it, knowing full well that talking to myself was unhealthy but finding myself unable to care. I turned to my closet and pulled out my clothes, ignoring the chimes of the maddening screen for now, and put them on. I slipped my pocket knife, the last gift from Nan I hadn't sold or had stolen, into the pocket of my hoodie. Then I stooped down and tied the steel toed boots I regularly wore as tight as I could, still lose from being two sizes too large for me.

After that gearing up process I was finally ready to go on a grocery run. The peeling wallpaper on my walls waved mockingly at me in the breeze of the fan, and I pointedly ignored the screen actually mocking me about _equipping_ my clothes. As I stepped out of my room I didn't bother locking the door behind me, it was held together with scotch tape as it was, a single poke would have that thing crashing down and no single tumbler lock would stop it.

And as I turned away from my door I was greeted to a disheartening sight, as Tuco and his remarkably pretty Roommate/Girlfriend Maria.

Now seeing them wasn't disheartening, the words floating above their heads were though.

 **Taylor "Tuco" Diaz**

 **Lvl 2 Super**

 _ **Surprisingly Honest**_

These were the words that floated above his head, like a sign that I was extra crazy, and Maria's had even less.

 **Maria Talitez**

 **Lvl 1 Gossip-Hound**

The descriptor that Tuco had wasn't anywhere to be found with Maria, though her class made me laugh. Many a time I had stomped up the stairs of the complex to hear her through the walls, on the phone with someone sharing juicy secrets.

Unfortunately, me staring in their direction didn't go unnoticed.

"Yo, Austin," Tuco called, and I sighed before I walked over, knowing what was going to happen already even as I walked over. "You headin' out, Man?" he asked curiously, if not suspiciously. When I nodded he sighed, "I thought you went shopping yesterday, things aren't looking good right now," at that I quirked an eyebrow and he began scratching the back of his shaved head sheepishly, "Like, worse than usual man. Some new group popped up, and their kinda raising hell."

"A new gang jumps up every week, Tuco," I said matter-of factly, "What makes this one any different?"

"They're not a gang man, it's every single gang that's been stomped already," he said with a look to Maria, who nodded, "We got family moving out of the Southside to come live with us here," he said sadly. The decision made sense, as the Southside of Glenn was where the largest residential area and the Military outpost were both located, and would probably be where the heavy fighting happened.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Still gotta eat," and with that I turned to make my way towards the stairs.

"Wait!" Maria stopped me and I turned back from where I had my hand on the rail, "If you are going out, please pick up as much food as you can."

I squinted at her, at the nervous set of Tuco's shoulders, and replied "I've only got twenty bucks, I can't afford all that much."

The couple shared a look, before Tuco lowered his head in my direction, "Neither can we, but if you just took it…" He sighed and raised his eyes, full of desperation, to meet mine and finished, "Who would know?"

I huffed a sigh and made to reply, before a chime and the screen marked their reappearance.

 **Quest Received:** _ **Errand Boy.**_

 **Gather as much food as you can.**

 **Rewards: 100 exp and 5 Renown points per 5 lbs of food, 5 free stat points.**

 **Y/N?**

I blinked at the rewards, but I had already decided before the quest came up. "I'll do what I can, Maria." The screen chimed and minimized itself at my acceptance, while both Tuco and Maria looked like a weight had been removed from their shoulders.

And then I moved down the stairs, with determined steps to accomplish this task because if _Tuco_ asked for help it was dire indeed.

As I stepped outside the building, I noticed that there were only a handful of people in sight, all with similar levels and classes as Tuco and Maria above their heads. I decided at this point I'd play along with whatever this hallucination happened to be until it wore off, and thought about all the characters I played in a RPG. Usually I preferred to be a frontline Tank character, a wall between the enemies and the rest of my party that could consistently take damage. A secondary role was usually Minor DPS or Heals, but usually only to make me a better tank.

With that in mind I thought about the stats I had been shown upon waking up.

 **Austin Whelp**

 **Lvl 1: Prologue/Childhood 15/100 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 70/70**

 **Stm = 70/70**

 **Str: 7**

 **Dex: 5**

 **Con: 7**

 **Agi: 5**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 5**

 **Free Points; 15**

 **Passives:**

 **Iron Will; 50% decrease of Status effects applied to Austin. Ex. Cripple; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **?; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the** _ **?**_ **Skill.** _ **Inherited from ?.**_

 **?; ?.**

 **Relentless; Immune to Fatigue. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through ?.**_

 **Self-Respect; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

The screen appeared in front of my face again, but this time I had questions and I knew it liked to give me (sarcastic) answers.

 **Free Points: 15**

 **Free points are rewards for quests and level ups, and are the only way to increase your stats.**

 **5 Free Points per Level up, Quest Dependent.**

I nodded in response before quickly pulling up more explanations.

 **Str(ength): 7**

 **A numerical representation of how much force you can generate with your body.**

 **Current Max Carry Weight: (Str*2.5 + 50lbs) = 67.5**

 **Dex(terity): 5**

 **A numerical representation of how much control over your movements you have.**

 **?**

 **Con(Stitution): 7**

 **A numerical representation of how healthy and sturdy you are.**

 **Hp: 70/70 (Hp = (Con*10)*Lvl, Dth = -(Hp/3))**

 **Stm: 70/70 (Stm = Con*10)**

 **Agi(lity): 5**

 **A numerical representation of how well you can move, as in pure speed.**

 **Current base movement speed: (Agi*.05 + 2mph) = 2.25 mph.**

 **Int(illegence): 5**

 **A numerical representation of your ability to store knowledge.**

 **?**

 **Wis(dom): 5**

 **A numerical representation of your ability to utilize information.**

 **?**

 **Cha(risma): 1**

 **A numerical representation of your appeal to others.**

 **?**

 **Res(ilience): 5**

 **A numerical representation of your ability to overcome hardships.**

 **?**

I looked over the descriptions, frowning at the hidden words momentarily, before I decided to set myself up nicely for my usual role.

 **Austin Whelp**

 **Lvl 1: 15/100 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 170/170**

 **Stm: 170/170**

 **Str: 12**

 **Dex: 5**

 **Con: 17**

 **Agi: 5**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 5**

 **Free Points; 0**

I didn't believe in the strategy of saving stat altering points until the last second, when they are necessary to get out of a tough spot, because I believe the tough spot probably could have been avoided by upping my stats first. At that point I took out the pocket knife from my jacket and looked at it mournfully, wondering just how good of a weapon it was. Because I honestly had no way of knowing how tanky I was until I knew how much damage common weapons did.

Then an idea came to me and I looked back at my Health.

 **Hp: 170/170 (510 health regenerated per Hour)**

With a smile I sliced my leg with the knife, suddenly aware that I still felt it and that I wasn't not in fact in a video game. With a yell I pulled it out, a motion that hurt worse than the stabbing.

 _-16_

 _-16_

Floating numbers appeared from the wound and floated up until they faded above my head. I furiously rubbed the cut, which even before my eyes was slowly closing up.

I frowned at the stupidity of what I had just done caught up in the moment before taking off down the street at a healthy clip, noticing that it was immensely easier than before to breathe while running.

 **Skill Learned: Running! Level 1; 2% to next level.**

 _ **Run Bitch Run, Dey gonna get you!**_

 **Move at 150% of your base movement speed.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second.**

 _ **Current top speed when running; 3.75mph.**_

The screen popping up nearly caused me to run straight into a telephone pole, but I managed to avoid it at the last second. I furiously swiped the screen away and continued my Run towards the closest Market.

By the time I made it to the Supermarket my new skill had levelled up three times, increasing the speed buff by 10% each time. At this rate I'd be moving Fast enough to not put points into Agility, ever. I had had to stop and walk four times along the way to recover stamina, but all in all I had turned a 30 minute trip into a 20 minute trip, so it was an improvement.

And all of my health had regenerated over the course of the run, which was great.

When I ran up on the Building, I noticed that the entire place had been smashed up. It looked as though it had been looted pretty recently, but the next place that had food was over an hour walk away so I decided to head into the place anyway.

The glass door had been shattered and the shards crunched sharply beneath my boots as I stepped over the threshold and headed for the snack aisle, which since most snack foods they took so long to expire made them a pretty good emergency ration to store. Then I heard the sound of footsteps coming from the back before the door to the Deli was nearly thrown from it's hinges.

The distinctive sound of rowdy people made its way towards the front of the store, until a group of 6 young men, wearing absurd facepaint and dirty clothes turned the corner about fifty feet from me.

They stopped, as though they had expected the store to be empty, even though food was a pretty important supply to gather so it shouldn't have surprised them that much, and the few seconds it took them to recover was enough for me to recognize one of the Hooligans, their actual class in this case, as one of my old classmates.

 **Thomas "Tom-Tom" Herder**

 **Level 2 Hooligan**

 _ **Loud and Proud**_

A particularly annoying classmate, as it were.

"This place is ours now," called one of the more antagonistic **Hooligans** , pointing at me with his piece of rebar, "So get the fuck out of here!" A few others voiced their agreement and moved towards me brandishing other makeshift weapons.

I mostly ignored them except to slide my feet further apart and try to keep them in sight, instead opting to call out to Thomas, "Yo, Thomas," Admittedly a poor start, but could now blame my horrible **Charisma** , "Is there any reason I can't just grab some food and be on my way?"

Thomas started at being addressed by his name, it was pretty obvious he was trying to conceal his identity with facepaint, but he set his eyes and responded harshly, "The Fuck makes you think you can just walk in here and take our Shit?" He pointed the Aluminium Baseball Bat towards the interior of the store, "We took it for a reason, so yeah there's a reason you can't just grab it and run. It's ours!" the rest of the goons began to laugh and jeer, and the one to my left decided he wanted to kick things off himself.

I ducked beneath the swing of his bike chain before I caught him by the throat with my left hand, his wrist with my right, and slammed the crown of my head into his nose. Suddenly every fight I had been party to in my years at the Northside Glenn Juvenile Detention Center rushed into me and I felt myself become centered in the knowledge.

 **Skill learned: Brawling!**

 _ **Prior experience before unlocking provides additional experience:**_ **Level 13; 59% to next level.**

 _ **I fight like I eat, aggressively.**_

 **A sloppy Hand to Hand style focused on raw physicality over finesse.**

 **Skill gives access to all Techniques used and observed by the Skill.**

 **+65% to all damage done with this Skill.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second**

 **Current unarmed Atk; 21**

He slumped down the side of the checkout machine holding his bleeding nose, usually a pitiful sight to see but I knew better than to leave anyone with barely an injury.

His eyes widened as my heel came crashing into his face as I stomped his head into the tiles below, cracking both participants in the process. His hands went slack and I yanked the Bike chain off of his arm and calmly wrapped the length up my arm and my right hand as I turned to face the rest of my attackers. They seemed taken aback by the suddenness of the fight, but recovered fairly quickly and they all ran at me at once.

' _One down'_ I thought blandly, eyes darting between my enemies, the remaining four much more cautious for **Hooligans**.

I backed up through the narrow checkout aisle as Rebar came swinging towards my face and the rest tried to get at me. I blocked the rebar with my arm covered in chain

-6 _successful_ _ **Block**_

before I grabbed his wrist and pulled him into my knee. Then I slammed my left hand into his chin and he dropped his weapon, just in time for a bike lock hit me in the side of the head

 **-34 CRITICAL HIT**

And send me stumbling back into the counter. As my attacker stepped forward to swing once more I pushed off of the counter with my left leg and launched my head into his stomach. We were both sent sprawling as we tumbled through the candy rack, but he had obviously taken the worst of it and I capitalized upon it by raining blows down upon him.

I ignored the sounds of screens being updated or replaced as I hammered down upon my attacker, the distraction falling to the back of my head as I was in my element, having spent a good portion of my early life in some sort of fight or another.

Suddenly I had to roll out of the way of a shank stabbing through the area my kidney had just occupied. I ended my roll by jumping away from the remaining attackers, panting slightly as I resumed my loose stance, watching the three **Hooligans** stare nervously back at me.

Then I grabbed the piece of Rebar at my feet and charged, swinging the piece of construction material like a sword in front of me as they scattered before me. I threw the Rebar at the Retreating back on my left, smiling ferally at the sound he made as he went down, before stalking towards the other two, Thomas looking as though he was thoroughly panicked. The other one was slightly more composed, trying to rush me with his 2x4 with rusty nails sticking out of it. I ducked under his wild swing and slammed my mailed fist into his exposed gut and put every bit of Stamina I could muster for the action into it.

There was a triumphant ding as he slid away from me and his weapon clattered to the ground. I then returned my gaze to Thomas, as though daring him to repeat his cohorts mistake. He wisely dropped his Bat and raised his hands above his head in surrender.

I continued to step towards the visibly nervous young man before I clapped a hand onto his shoulder and gave him my best smile, it actually irked me a little that it made him sweat worse when i did that. "Thomas, I would like your help with something," I started confidently, his eyes darting between the groaning people littering the floor.

"W-what do you want?" he asked quickly, hands still held up.

"First off, I'm taking the food I came here for," only continuing when he nodded vigorously at that, "And you are going to help me carry it."

"W-whatever you say, man," He answered.

I frowned at him as I turned to walk away, "And next time man, just try and be civil and stuff like this won't happen."

He sighed and lowered his hands, "Austin, I came here because I needed some food for my family, My dad is driving people around like a Taxi just to get enough to feed four people, and I thought that if we took one Store it would be enough for our street for at least a month," He wrung his hands together as he looked towards his feet, his bravado clearly draining from him as he told me this, "Do you think I could take some food?" At my look he immediately back-pedalled, "N-nevermind, it's all yours-"

"I can't carry the entire store, man," I called over my shoulder as I grabbed a shopping cart to carry food, "I just needed to get bread and water, you know, the emergency essentials. Take whatever you want."

Thomas and I gathered up a sizable portion of groceries, Thomas having awoken his accomplices to gather for themselves.

While they still shot me dirty looks, they were well aware of the origins of the bruises they now sported as well, and steered clear of me. I also refused to return the bike chain still wrapped around my arm just on principle, I mean I understand wanting to get as much food as you can but trying to kill someone for it was unacceptable.

In fact, if I hadn't spent my points as I had, I probably would have been done in by the Bike Lock to the head. I rubbed the back of my head as I pushed my shopping cart back towards the Apartment complex, starting to accept my new reality as I felt no blood, wound, or even bruise where I was hit. Along the way Thomas demonstrated why _Loud and Proud_ were floating above his head, regaling me with stories of people being beaten in the street, the Military fighting Grimm, and even stories of his family as we walked the mostly empty streets. His facepaint scared off those that had braved the streets, leaving us to walk under the smoky sky, now adorned by the shattered moon.

I half-listened as I swiped through the screens that had popped during the fight.

 **Skill Learned: Blocking. Level 1;**

 _ **"Did you tell her about your Herpes?"**_

 **The Art of Blocking an attempt.**

 **(Active) Costs (Dmg-Con) Stm/Block.**

 **Blocks 50% of damage on a succesful Block.**

 **Skill Learned: Chain Mastery. Level 2;**

 _ **The Weapon of Goons world-wide, learn to be the ultimate goon.**_

 **(Passive) +10% Atk while a Chain is equipped.**

It seemed that simply beating people with a chain on my hand counted as mastering the weapon, which I found interesting, and it had already levelled up form the fight. Among the pop ups were two that stated my **Brawling!** Had levelled up twice from winning a fight against five opponents with it, awarding me a more interesting Screen.

 **Achievement Earned: Thermopylae;**

 _ **Stood strong against a force five times greater than your own!**_

 **Reward; Renown + 5, + 1 Free Point.**

The Free Point was useful, but I was more interested in the other implications of the Screen. **Achievements** had never been mentioned before, but they seemed to be hidden quests for specific events with similarly hidden rewards. **Renown** had been one of the rewards for the quest I was just finishing up, but I had assumed it was just something pertaining to Tuco or the Apartment complex. Now it implied that others would end up hearing of my deeds, and I found myself less than enthused. I enjoyed my privacy more than others my age and the thought of people recognizing me was not an enjoyable one.

 **Renown Level; 0/100 Anonymous.**

 _ **Your actions continue to remain under the radar, even the most adept at hounding information would find it hard to find you.**_

I nodded at the description, but I thought that the mechanic would make it hard for those that wished to remain under the radar for long periods, or wished to not be known for their bad actions.

 **Feature Unlocked: Renown Modifier;**

 **Cha(risma): 1**

 **A numerical representation of your appeal to others.**

 _ **Renown Modifier; (Cha*5)% of Renown gained from Achievements and Quests.**_

And suddenly I was thankful for having such a stat, meaning that I would have to put in a large amount of points to get more than ten percent of **Renown** points, positive or negative. Once again the System had proved to be balanced, which pleased me as I had no desire to become known.

 **Skill Learned: Power Attack; Level 1.**

 _ **Effort is pain, in this case it's someone else's.**_

 **Expend Sta to increase damage on a basic attack.**

 **For Every point of Stamina, add .5% of damage to Atk.**

I smiled as I closed the screen and pulled over the next, another piece of good news.

 **Level Up! + 1**

I nearly laughed out loud at how well the entire the day had gone, but refrained from it as I pushed the cart home.

 **Quest Completed:** _ **Errand Boy.**_

 **Rewards: 100 exp, 50 Renown Points, and 5 Free points.**

The pop up appeared in front of my eyes as I wheeled the Cart into the Lobby, swatting it away from my eyes I wished a quick trip home to Thomas and quickly climbed the steps. I raised my fist to knock upon Tuco's Door when it was pulled open and I was greeted by Maria's visage. I grunted and nodded when she asked if I had gathered food for the Complex, to which she squealed and hugged me before returning to her apartment to tell Tuco. I turned and hefted the small bag of food over my shoulder as I moved back towards my room.

Upon entering my room and stuffing the goods in my fridge I sat down in my chair and pulled up my **Status** screen to contemplate what I would do from here.

 **Austin**

 **Class: Whelp**

 **Title:/**

 **Lvl 2: 5/200 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 380/380 (Hp = (Con*10)*Lvl, Dth = -(Hp/3))**

 **Stm: 190/190 (Stm = Con*10)**

 **Str: 14**

 **Dex: 5**

 **Con: 19**

 **Agi: 5**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 5**

 **Free Points; 6**

 **Atk: 33 = (12** _ **Str**_ **\+ 6** _ **Bike Chain**_ **) + (75% from Brawling! + 10% from Chain Mastery)**

 **Attributes:**

 **Iron Will; 50% decrease of Status effects applied to Austin. Ex. Cripple; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **?; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the** _ **?**_ **Skill.** _ **Inherited from ?.**_

 **?; ?.**

 **Relentless; Immune to Fatigue. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through ?.**_

 **Self-Respect; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **Skills:**

 **-Running! Level 5;**

 _ **Run Bitch Run, Dey gonna get you!**_

 **Move at 190% of your base movement speed.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second.**

 **-Brawling! Level 15; 59% to next level.**

 _ **I fight like I eat; Aggressively.**_

 **A sloppy Hand to Hand style focused on raw physicality over finesse.**

 **Skill gives access to all Techniques used and observed by the Skill.**

 **+75% to all damage done with this Skill.**

 **-Chain Mastery. Level 2; 12.9%**

 _ **The Weapon of Goons world-wide, learn to be the ultimate goon.**_

 **+10% Atk while a Chain is equipped.**

 **-Power Attack; Level 1.**

 _ **Effort is pain, in this case it's someone else's.**_

 **Expend Sta to increase damage on a basic attack.**

 **For Every point of Stamina, add .5% of damage to Atk.**

I stared intently at the numerous question marks on under my Attributes, but there was a buzz of denial and the screen shook, telling me that there was no more information to be found. I narrowed my eyes at it, deciding that figuring out what made me who I was would be my focus. I also didn't quite understand what it meant by Inherited as I wasn't related to Nan, but I still had inherited an attribute from her.

I sighed and moved on, fairly certain that I wouldn't be finding out this night. I read my **Status** over once more, focusing on another unexplained aspect.

 **Class: Whelp.**

 _ **Your class is the most important Role you fill in your Head, the Role that you have assigned yourself.**_

 **Available Classes:**

 **-Whelp: Starting Class.**

" _ **So help me Whelp, if you get me called to the school again this week I'll kill you myself."**_ **-Nan.**

 **Effects: +100% Experience Gain until level 5.**

I blinked at the mechanic and the very potent effect, thinking that while helpful it was more nostalgic. I briefly wondered what the potential benefits of being a hooligan were, but quickly found myself unable to even guess. Instead I decided to assign my **Free Points** before going to sleep to sleep off the day.

 **Austin**

 **Class: Whelp**

 **Lvl 2: 5/200 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 380/380 (Hp = (Con*10)*Lvl, Dth = -(Hp/3))**

 **Stm: 190/190 (Stm = Con*10)**

 **Str: 14**

 **Dex: 5**

 **Con: 19**

 **Agi: 5**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 5**

 **Free Points; 6**

Unable to find a problem with how I had distributed the points from before. I almost put them all into Strength and Constitution before remembering the many Unknown mechanics associated with each status, quickly checking again to see if anything had been revealed without me noticing.

 **Str(ength): 14**

 **A numerical representation of how much force you can generate with your body.**

 **Current Max Carry Weight: (Str*2.5 + 50lbs) = 85.0**

 **Dex(terity): 5**

 **A numerical representation of how much control over your movements you have.**

 **Critical Hit Modifier: Deal 100 + (Dex*2.5) % to Damage done by a Critical Hit; +112.5%.**

 **Critical Area Modifier: Dex*2% Larger Critical Area; 10% Larger Critical Area.**

 **Con(Stitution): 19**

 **A numerical representation of how healthy and sturdy you are.**

 **Hp: 380/380 (Hp = (Con*10)*Lvl, Dth = -(Hp/3))**

 **Stm: 190/190 (Stm = Con*10)**

 **Agi(lity): 5**

 **A numerical representation of how well you can move, as in pure speed.**

 **Current Base movement speed: (Agi*.05 + 2mph) = 2.25 mph.**

 **Int(illegence): 5**

 **A numerical representation of your ability to store knowledge.**

 **?**

 **Wis(dom): 5**

 **A numerical representation of your ability to utilize information.**

 **?**

 **Cha(risma): 1**

 **A numerical representation of your appeal to others.**

 _ **Renown Modifier**_ **; (Cha*5)% of Renown gained from Achievements and Quests; 5%.**

 **A numerical representation of your appeal to others.**

 **Res(ilience): 5**

 **A numerical representation of your ability to overcome hardships.**

 _ **Reduction to Critical Hits**_ **: Take Res*2.5% less damage from incoming Critical Hits; -12.5%.**

 _ **Personal Critical Area Modifier**_ **: Your Critical Area is Res*2% smaller; 10% smaller.**

 **?**

I had apparently unlocked the Critical Modifiers during my fight in the Supermarket, probably when I took the Critical hit myself, making one of my stats suddenly more important than the others, and I immediately placed all six points into it.

 **Res(ilience): 11**

 **A numerical representation of your ability to overcome hardships.**

 _ **Reduction to Critical Hits**_ **: Take Res*2.5% less damage from incoming Critical Hits; -27.5%.**

 _ **Personal Critical Area Modifier**_ **: Your Critical Area is Res*2% smaller; 22% smaller.**

 **?**

Satisfied with the protection from Attacks aimed at Vital parts of my body I stood and stretched, feeling the slight change in my body as I more than doubled my **Resilience** , but I ignored it and flopped onto my bed. I had barely hit the covers before I fell asleep. Dreams evaded me that night.

 **Austin**

 **Class: Whelp**

 **Lvl 2: 105/200 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 380/380 (Hp = (Con*10)*Lvl, Dth = -(Hp/3))**

 **Stm: 190/190 (Stm = Con*10)**

 **Str: 14**

 **Dex: 5**

 **Con: 19**

 **Agi: 5**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 11**

 **Free Points; 0**

 **Atk: 37 = (14** _ **Str**_ **\+ 6** _ **Bike Chain**_ **) + (75% from Brawling! + 10% from Chain Mastery)**

 **Attributes:**

 **Iron Will; 50% decrease of Status effects applied to Austin. Ex. Cripple; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **?; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the** _ **?**_ **Skill.** _ **Inherited from ?.**_

 **?; ?.**

 **Relentless; Immune to Fatigue. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through ?.**_

 **Self-Respect; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **Skills:**

 **-Running! Level 5; 2% to next level.**

 _ **Run Bitch Run, Dey gonna get you!**_

 **Move at 190% of your base movement speed.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second.**

 **-Brawling! Level 15; 59% to next level.**

 _ **I fight like I eat; Aggressively.**_

 **A sloppy Hand to Hand style focused on raw physicality over finesse.**

 **Skill gives access to all Techniques used and observed by the Skill.**

 **+75% to all damage done with this Skill.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second**

 **-Chain Mastery. Level 2; 12.9%**

 _ **The Weapon of Goons world-wide, learn to be the ultimate goon.**_

 **+10% Atk while a Chain is equipped.**

 **-Power Attack; Level 1.**

 _ **Effort is pain, in this case it's someone else's.**_

 **Expend Stm to increase damage on a basic attack.**

 **For Every point of Stamina, add .5% of damage to Atk.**

 _End of Chapter 1._


	2. Prologue: Part 2

**Slept in your Bed!**

 **Fully Recovered Hp and Stm!**

Unlike other mornings, where I would have spent many a moment collecting myself before even opening my eyes, my eyes snapped open the moment I stirred. I looked over at the clock laying on my floor by my bed, angrily blinking out that it was six o'clock in the morning. I blinked back at it just as angrily, briefly pondering the lack of sleeping in before concluding that I had lost yet another part of my life to the Game.

I grumpily stood up and changed into my clothes, deciding to look into those unknown variables on my Status page. No sooner than I had thought it had another screen popped up, almost explicitly to block my attempts to ignore the more annoying aspects of whatever I had been living through.

 **Quest Received: Finding the Truth!**

 **You know, when most people find themselves it's a little more metaphorical.**

 **-Discover the Truth behind the Question Marks!**

 **Rewards; ? Skill, 3000 exp, and a Book.**  
-

I growled at the Vague message and the implied difficulty of the quest by the amount of experience given, demanding for whatever was in charge of the screens to give me the **Option** to-

 **Options Menu:**

 **Damage Notification: (On)/Off**

 **Display Important Words Differently: (On)/Off**

 **Notification Noise: (On)/Off**

 **Controller Vibration: On/(Off)**

 **Tooltips: On/(Off)**

 **In-Depth Quest Tracker: On/(Off)**

 **Difficulty: (/)**

Well aware of the twitch developing in my left eye, especially when I looked at the Controller Vibration setting, I quickly turned Off the Notification noise and Damage Notification and turned both Tooltips and Quest Tracker On, not even bothering to hide the relieved puff of air that escaped me as the confirmation window popped up without the Noise. I once again pulled up the window displaying my newest Quest.

 **Quest Received: Finding the Truth!**

 **For those without proper context, History is Meaningless.**

 **-Search for your records to discover yourself.**

 **Rewards; ? Skill, 3000 exp, and a Book.**

I smiled upon seeing that the Quest was much clearer than before, giving me a clear objective as opposed to a vague guideline. I even knew how to go about accomplishing it, though it wasn't a sure fire solution it would be a good starting point. I wrapped the Bike Chain around my left arm and pulled the sleeve of my Jacket down over it, hoping to keep it a surprise until I needed it.

Then I walked over to my computer and quickly logged in in a practiced motion. I was extremely surprised when another screen popped.

 **Skill learned: Computer Science.**

 **Prior experience before unlocking provides additional experience: Level 17; 23% to next level.**

 **+34% words per minute typed.**

 **Words per minute =(1+.02(Lvls of Computer Science)(80+(Int*3)) = 127.3 Words per minute.**

And while the Skill itself wasn't anything to brag about, it was a nice confirmation that the Skills weren't exclusively Combat-Oriented. It meant that it could also help me out being just a normal person, though I had never in my life considered becoming a normal person it was nice to know that I still had the option. I shook my head and closed the window before returning to what I had logged in for.

I looked up the location of the Mount Glenn Child Services Building, but ran into a problem. I had no way to take the information down, and as I had never paid much attention to anyone on navigating by **Map** -

And then a screen had popped up, displaying a map of the Apartment complex and the surrounding Streets. When I read the Address of the Child Services Building a red arrow blinked to life on my map, showing a building on the Southside of the City at least three hours away at my speed.

Nodding to myself I moved the Map away from my face so that it wasn't blocking my vision but still visible enough to be useful. I opened my door and took off at my running speed down the stairs.

I had been running about 45 minutes, with a few minutes here and there to regenerate Stamina and close level up notifications for the skill, before I noticed that the Quest was sending me directly towards the most dangerous areas of the City, to the point where I could hear the roars of Grimm in the distance and the staccato of gunfire in response. I frowned at the news, before another screen popped up in front of me.

 **Quest Received: I Am Bush!**

 **Nice to meet you, Bush.**

 **-Survive the Ambush.**

 **Rewards: 500 exp.**

I blinked at the Notification before I heard the whistling of something small going very fast. Instinctively I threw myself to the ground just in time for something to stab into the concrete wall to my right. When I looked to my left for my adversary I found no one, but I pushed myself to my feet, and put my back to the wall, in hopes of stopping a flanking maneuver.

From above me I heard a Tinkling laugh, the only real warning I had before something fell upon me with the force of a car dropped off a cliff. I was thrown bodily away from where I had been standing, landing painfully on a burnt out car. As I quickly pushed myself up onto my elbows to get a good look at my attacker, I wished I hadn't.

 **?**

 **Lvl 12 Fighter**

 **Chroma Saboteur**

From what I could see of the uniform it seemed to be a female, and from the long swaying tail it seemed to be a faunus. I say seemed to be because all the other distinguishing features were covered by a very odd helmet that seemed to have been made out of wood, and form-fitting outfit made of leather. Along the boots and gloves of the uniform were a multitude of nails and spikes, letting me know exactly what she wanted to do to me.

And the Quest had only said to survive, not win, so my choice was made.

I groaned even as I heard another giggle. I rolled off of the Car and grabbed the asphalt of the road before putting every bit of Stamina into my arms as I tried to throw myself away from the honestly scary enemy. I rolled along the road about twenty yards from the now much worse off car, where once again my opponent seemed to be watching me intently from where her foot was planted into solid metal.

I don't know how I knew it, but I could feel the switch in her personality go from the cheery and playful one it had just been to the much more serious and deadly one it now was. As though I could see her smile dissolving through the Helmet, but obviously I couldn't.

This instinct is the only thing that let me know that the previous plan of escape was no longer an option, just as the much faster Fighter slammed into my upraised arms.

Block Successful.

I caught her first attack on my right arm and it sent her bouncing to my right where she flipped to land on the wall of the building with her feet before slamming into my block once more.

Block Successful.

Suddenly she was on the car the next she was hitting terminal velocity, there was no in between. Thankfully I had gotten up my Block or I would have been done for. I had even gone up three levels in the skill from being thrown through a building.

(115/380) Regen 1 point per 4 seconds/1140 per hour)

On my HUD I could see the Hp gauge on my screen, blinking as it stood below showing how much I had been hit for and how quickly I was regaining health, which wasn't very fast at all. Thankfully my Stamina returned much faster than my Health, almost 4 times as fast in fact. And it was almost a fourth full after my attempt to create distance.

I shifted myself up into a standing position, and looked out to see my enemy, also having to extricate herself from a building across the street. I looked down at my left arm, where she had hit and saw that my jackets sleeve had simply ceased to be under the stress while my arm had turned red and bruised up immensely in response to the chain being impacted with such force.

But before my very eyes it seemed to return to it's old condition, even though my Health was still below Half.

She picked herself off the ground and made a big deal of being alright, though it seemed like she was stalling as well to me, before painfully popping her shoulder back into socket. I could see the tears in her uniform from the crater I was in, as well as the blood oozing from her slowly. It seemed she wasn't built for taking hits, and according to the screen I was looking through, she wouldn't like a hit from me.

Relentless Activated.

Suddenly very thankful for the seemingly random Attribute, I held my block as my Health slowly ticked up and my Stamina regenerated through the usage of the Skill. I quickly began to pull apart her technique as we both stalled, and I came to the conclusion that if her strength was really the key damaging component it would be close in function of my Power attack, but I didn't blur into motion when I used it, in fact nothing seemed to noticeably change when I used it. In fact her whole thing seemed to be going extremely fast, which I had been able to exploit by sending her flying into the building. I thought confidently, 'I could do so again, but I'd need to time it pretty well.' Then her knees were bending and I moved.

When she shot forward, I noticed that she wasn't the very best at changing direction. So I had Blocked to make myself a thinner target, and stayed still to better time it. So when she crouched I put all of my almost full Stamina Bar, 157 points to be exact, into a power attack that she was running full speed into.

Damage Calculation: 63 base (with relentless), +78.5% Power Attack Bonus, and Momentum Modifier +300%; 63 * 4.785 =301.4 = 301 Damage.

I could feel her slam into my fist as I Punched forward and dropped my block, letting her attack hit me fully bringing my Health dangerously close to unconscious, but allowing me to put all of my Stamina into the attack. I was once again sent flying backwards, fully blowing through the concrete I had landed against and skidding along the adjacent street. When I opened my eyes, it was to the sight of a new Screen and Mechanic.

 **Skill Learned: Mitigation, Level 1.**

 **Pain is as temporary as it is annoying.**

 **Take 2% less physical Damage.**

 **Mechanic Discovered: Newtonian Physics!**

 **Sometimes you have to work for the world, but sometimes the world works for you.**

 **Just because you can see your stats and your limitations doesn't mean that you have all the information. The world still works how you remember it, now you just have to utilize it.**

 **Achievement Unlocked: Blow out!**

 **Right in the Kissa!**

 **Deal over half your health in one hit!**

 **Rewards: Renown +5, + 5% Str to Atk.**

 **Quest Completed: I Am Bush!**

 **Bonus Objective: -Stand and Fight against an enemy well beyond your level. Like an Idiot.**

 **Rewards: 500 exp, 5 Free Points.**

 **Level Up! +3**

 **Gained 1 Attribute Point.**

I groaned from my position on the ground even as my health pool doubled and I felt my Attribute deactivate. I stood up and walked through the whole I had made through the base of the building and calmly stomped through the shifting remains of concrete and rebar. Once again my enemy laid on the sidewalk across the street, but this time she was sprawled out, left leg in a most unnatural position and many open wounds alight and regenerating in a manner different than the way I did it. Hers was more "One at a time" as opposed to my "All at once" with the yellow light seeming to hop from wound to wound to close it up.

Another point that I found interesting was that her helmet had hit the corner of the building that had once been a shopping center and had shattered the tinted glass like sugar glass. I steeled myself for the potential of the next conversation to become extremely uncomfortable, but pushed on.

I needed to know what activity was happening in the area, potential dangers and threats from gangs and Grimm, and why she had attacked me at all. So I carefully pulled the Helmet from her head, clinically taking note of the Ears on her head, similar to the Squirrels that Vale hosted in the Winter and Chestnut color. I saw the shoulder length hair that had been stored under the Helmet, and I saw the Freckles that were splashed across her cheeks, as well as a fairly prominent scar that ran across her jawline.

This close I could see that she was fairly tall, standing around five foot eight, maybe seven when her leg wasn't dislocated, just three or four inches shorter than I stood. She had the body of a runner, which really didn't surprise me with how she fought, and skin that looked as though she had seen the sun everyday of her life.

When her eyes shot open and her hands started to flail as she came to from being knocked out, I reached out and slapped her across the cheek, harder than I honestly had wanted to, but my strength grew faster than I could adapt to. Her eyes dilated and her arms hit the sidewalk, but I put a stop to her getaway before it even started by placing my knee on her chest and let my weight press into her sternum.

And suddenly she was paying attention.

 **Skill Learned: Intimidation;**

 **You don't want to see me angry.**

 **Prior experience before unlocking provides additional experience: Level 4, 97%**

 **For every 5% of health the target is missing, 4% more likely to answer a question honestly.**

I growled at the pop up, and a screen told me the skill had already gone up as the girl underneath me whimpered before stopping and steadying herself.

As I looked down upon her I noticed that I could see her Name, now that her helmet had been removed.

 **Taylor Chesterton**

 **Lvl 12 Fighter**

 **Chroma Saboteur**

So I met her scared but uncowed stare with my usual bored look, aware that even if I tried to portray a different look my Charisma wouldn't allow it, and growled as I grabbed her by the collar of her uniform, and proceeded to Train my Intimidation Skill.

"Why, pray tell, did you decide to Attack me?" I saw the raspy words have their effect as she gulped and stammered her response, but I continued just to push it a bit farther, "And do remember which one of us came out of the fight with a dislocated hip, and which came out fresh as a daisy."

'Not true in the slightest, but she can't tell so it's not like it matters,' And it was true, my body could have been on its last legs and she would have never really known. At this she gave me a look over to discover that I indeed did seem as fresh as a daisy, and I felt the intimidation skill go up as she decided to tell the truth.

"M-my Boss told me to collect whatever I could from people," she stuttered, "And he's the strongest person I've ever even heard of, so I do what he says." I stared at her, hard and she sighed before continuing, "And he pays me very well, which doesn't hurt."

"Who do you work for?" I decided I'd like to know who she'd be sending after me.

She actually smirked at me, a vicious little thing, but a smirk nonetheless as she answered, "Don Monella, that's the name of the man who will kill you," she pulled up her right hand, which she had her Scroll in, and raised it up to my face. I heard the snap of the Camera, and the smiled once again as she informed me that it had, in fact, "Sent."

 **Quest Received: Down with the Don!**

 **-The Don doesn't like you beating his top enforcer, and will be sending people to make an example of you. "Convince" the Don to remove the Mark on you, one way or another.**

 **Rewards: Removal of "Marked" Status, 2000 exp, and 5 Free Points**

I Growled for what felt like the Hundredth time since starting the conversation before I simply slammed her head down into the Concrete, calling the interrogation a Failure and moving to Stand.

Then something blew a breath down the back of my shirt and growled a lower octave than humanly possible.

 **Skill Learned: Detect Bloodlust, Level 1.**

 **Is it just me or does it feel a little Deadly in here?**

 **Detection Range: 1 Yard.**

I could feel it shuffling around, and the growling was growing louder the longer I stayed still, so I tried to make a plan. But looking down at the ground I noticed the young woman I had just incapacitated, and I forced myself to rethink my course of action. Of course, they weren't about to just let me do anything and I felt more than heard the Roar that erupted from behind me.

Thinking quickly I activated Power Attack in my legs and dumped all the available Stamina I had as I reached out and grabbed Taylor. As I felt the air start to move with whatever monster was behind me I let loose the skill and shot into the air with the sound of asphalt cracking under me. Another Roar ripped through the air as I found myself a good sixty feet in the air my legs spinning underneath me.

It was at this point that I realized I hadn't thought through that one very well, a thought reinforced by the crunch of my knees upon landing. Thankfully, the roof of the Building I had landed on was high enough up that I didn't have to worry about Grimm, so after I had dropped Taylor, because even if I had saved her life she still was a Mob Enforcer, I walked over to the edge of the roof to get a good look at what had almost killed me.

 **Lvl 8 Ursa**

 **Lvl 9 Ursa**

The Pair of Bear-like Grimm had managed to just walk up behind me with how distracted I had been, and were now futilely snuffling at the crater in the ground where I had been. I looked up at the sky, determining that it was close to ten in the morning, but the amount of noise erupting in the area was steadily increasing, implying a large amount of diurnal Grimm in the Area.

I needed to find information on the types of Grimm and what to do when near them, because I still wasn't confident in my ability to fight them. I guess I need to make a stop at the Library, which I should be able to find on my map easily enough.

I looked over my shoulder at Taylor who was just groaning as she came to so I decided to make my exit. I once again powered up my Legs and Jumped to the nearest building. The problem ended up being that I had no real grasp on my own strength as I overshot it by at least ten feet. Thankfully, a notification popped up on my rough landing.

 **Skill Learned: Power Jump! Level 1.**

 **If that bird shat on your car it'd dent the Hood.**

 **Through pure physicality Soar through the Air.**

 **Costs 50 Stm to jump your Str in Feet, Current base Distance 20 feet.**

 **Costs 105 Stm to Jump twice your Str in Feet.**

 **Costs 160 Stm to Jump Thrice your Str in Feet.**

 **Stm = N*50 + (N-1)*5, where N is the Coefficient of your strength, to reach N*Str Feet.**

I pulled up my Status to calculate how far I could go and was surprised at the numbers presented to me.

 **Austin**

 **Class: Whelp**

 **Lvl 5: 205/500 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 1250/1250 (Hp = (Con*10)*Lvl, Dth = -(Hp/3)) HP Regen (Con/2)*lvl/min: 46/smin**

 **Stm: 250/250 (Stm = Con*10)**

 **Str: 20**

 **Dex: 5**

 **Con: 25**

 **Agi: 5**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 11**

 **Free Points; 20**

 **Attribute Point; 1**

 **Atk: 52.65 = (20 (Str) + 6 (Bike Chain)+ (5% of Str = 1)) + (80% from Brawling! + 15% from Chain Mastery)**

 **Attributes:**

 **Iron Will; 50% decrease of Status effects applied to Austin. Ex. Cripple; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed. Inherited from Nan.**

 **?; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the ? Skill. Inherited from ?.**

 **?; ?.**

 **Relentless; Immune to Fatigue. 2*Str when Hp below 50%. Gained through ?.**

 **Self-Respect; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You? Gained Through The Little Things.**

 **Marked; +500 Renown, 15% chance to encounter a Hitman when entering or exiting an area.**

I blinked at the amount of Health I had compared to this morning, but I stopped staring in favor of doing calculations, determining that I could go 80 feet at most for 215 Stamina, which was about what my first unregulated Jump had been. I could run across the rooftops all the way to the Library, which was much further north and much safer than the Child Services Buildings. Before I set off I wanted to distribute my Free Points just in case I ran into something along the way, deciding that I would put five in both Strength and Resilience and the remaining ten into Constitution.

 **Austin**

 **Class: Whelp**

 **Lvl 5: 205/500 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 1750/1750, (88 Hp/min).**

 **Stm: 350/350, (70 Stm/min).**

 **Str: 25**

 **Dex: 5**

 **Con: 35**

 **Agi: 5**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 16**

 **Free Points; 0**

 **Atk: 62.4 = (25 (Str) + 6 (Bike Chain)+ (5% of Str = 1.25 = 1)) + (80% from Brawling! + 15% from Chain Mastery)**

 **Attributes:**

 **Iron Will; 50% decrease of Status effects applied to Austin. Ex. Cripple; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed. Inherited from Nan.**

 **?; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the ? Skill. Inherited from ?.**

 **?; ?.**

 **Relentless; Immune to Fatigue. 2*Str when Hp below 50%. Gained through ?.**

 **Self-Respect; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You? Gained Through The Little Things.**

 **Marked; +500 Renown, 15% chance to encounter a Hitman when entering or exiting an area.**

I nodded at the updated stats, pretty sure that my choice to specialize in those three statistics would be the best way to ensure my continued Survival, which was now going to be up in the air with the Marked Attribute. Then I decided to look into the newest bit of information on the page, Attribute Points.

 **Attribute Points; 1.**

 _ **Every five levels you gain one Attribute Point, which you may use to select an Attribute or upgrade an existing one. Both options are only possible if you meet the minimum Stat Requirements.**_

 **Available Attributes:**

 **-Juggernaut; 15 Str Required.**

 **Every point of Str lets you take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **Allows access to the Decimator Perk Tree.**

 **-Marksman; 15 Dex Required*.**

 **Allows you to replace Str with Dex in Damage Calculator.**

 **Immune to Blind Status.**

 **Allows access to the Finesse Perk Tree.**

 **-Regenerator; 15 Con Required.**

 **Regenerate an eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, a quarter of your Con score worth of Stamina per second.**

 **Allows access to the Bulwark Perk Tree.**

 **-Spry in a Crisis; 15 Agi Required*.**

 **When in an enemy's line of sight passively double your Movement speed.**

 **Immune to Paralysis Status.**

 **Allows access to the Acrobat Perk Tree.**

 **-Apprentice; 15 Int Required*.**

 **Gain a 50% increase to the ? Skill and ?.**

 **Allows access to the Scholar Perk Tree.**

 **-Clever; 15 Wis Required*.**

 **A 5% increase to all Skill Experience.**

 **Gain access to the ? Skill.**

 **50% resistance to the Silence Status.**

 **Allows access to the Ponderer Perk Tree.**

 **-Exhibitionist; 15 Cha Required*.**

 **For every 1% of skin showing gain .5% resistance to all damage, 10% increase to Renown, and 10% increase to all Charisma Based Skills.**

 **Allows access to the Silver-Tongue Perk Tree.**

 **-Enduring; 15 Res Required.**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

 **Allows access to the Unyielding Perk Tree.**

I was severely disappointed to find no more information on each of the mentioned Perk Trees, but since I had chosen the path of survivability I needed to choose between taking less damage or out healing it. As it stood, I had no major decrease to damage I took, my Mitigation barely stopping anything as it stood now, but if I went the Juggernaut Route it would more than double the amount taken off of physical damage and continue to increase with my strength.

The catch was the "Physical" part of the Damage, which implied that there were other types of Damage I simply hadn't encountered yet and left me open to them if I took Juggernaut. So instead I took the Regenerator Attribute and confirmed the choice. Then I smiled as I realized that I could now power train my Skills as I ran, using Power Jump and Attack along the way now that I regenerated more Stamina than I could actually use.

'I should probably grab enduring Next time,' I thought as I swiped away the Window. The avoid Death Mechanic would go nicely with my survival at all costs build.

I took off at a Run across the rooftops, now able to do so without ever having to stop, as I headed towards the Library safely stored across town.

After a three and a half hour run across the City, an extra thirty minutes to avoid particularly large Fire that seemed to have been set on purpose, I made it to the Library. I was honestly surprised to find civilians actually out and about, but I remembered that it was one of the few Emergency shelters maintained by the government across the Mount. I landed in the street in front of the Building, Earning yet another screen to dismiss, because among the four screens telling me I Ran fairly well and could Power Jump for less Stamina, the constant landing from twenty or thirty feet had leveled up my Mitigation, and my Power Attacking as I Ran had levelled it up once as well.

I stood from the crouch I had landed in to find that most of the civilians in view were watching me with panicked eyes, "Hey!" I called out to them in offense, even as they nearly stampeded back towards the main doors from smaller Defensive positions.

 **Quest Received: Font of Knowledge!**

 **Yes, that was a Font Pun! I should be a comic.**

 **-Gain access to the Mount Glenn Public Library and it's knowledge**

 **Rewards: Access to Information, + 1 Free point.**

I was so dumbfounded at their response that I hadn't even processed the information before I was being shot at from the Building, mostly from older hunting rifles but damn did they hurt. I put my hands up in front of my face before I launched myself up and backwards, out of their effective range. I ripped a piece of my shirt off that was already falling apart and waved it over the edge of the roof in the universal sign of surrender. There was only one panic shot, and went Right by quite a margin, and eventually I heard footfalls on the road.

I stuck my head up and over the edge, finding a single person in the middle of the street and finding myself thoroughly surprised at the choice to send out this individual over anyone else.

 **Janette Greenburg**

 **Lvl 6 Librarian**

 **Silence is Golden**

I blinked at her, honestly confused as to why one of the highest leveled Civilians I had seen was a Librarian of all things. Then I shrugged it off and instead went back to studying her for signs of danger. She had Dirty Blonde Hair, kept up in a messy bun, Green eyes that seemed bright from sixty feet away, and wore a standard business casual button up shirt and skirt combo. I couldn't see any weapons on her, but I didn't think they'd send someone unarmed.

In the end I shrugged and launched myself into the air, purposely landing a good twenty feet short of her. We stood there staring at each other, and I'm fairly certain she knew which one of us would squirm first so I started as only I could.

"Hello!" I called, still standing twenty feet away, wearing the tattered remains of my clothes and the blood of myself and another person, "Could I please come in?"

I believe that the look on her face was the default look of someone so confused that they couldn't think straight. She actually looked over shoulder to one of the men aiming a weapon at me through the broken window, who I gave a quick once over at the same time.

 **Qrow Branwen**

 **Lvl 14 Hunter**

 **Walking Disaster**

A young man who looked just as dishevelled as I did, but had a much higher level and an ominous Title. This seemed to be the person actually in charge of the Library's Defense, but I decided against calling them on the Deception. Instead I calmly watched as the Librarian composed herself to respond. As she opened her mouth I remembered something important.

"Please," I amended with a large, toothy smile, hoping against hope that it worked.

"Uh," she started before blinking at me, and I swear I heard someone behind her laughing, but instead I focused on the Librarian and deciding to switch persuasion tactics.

"I mean," I started as I fumbled for a good joke, "I know I'm a few weeks late with that book on Scroll programming, but I thought you were joking when you said you were gonna track me down!" I know for certain that someone was laughing in the background and I could feel the tension that had been building in front of the Library dissipate like it had never been there.

"Oh no, there's two of them," she muttered under her breath as she palmed her face, before she once again straightened, "Why are you here, Mr…?" she asked as she got as relaxed as I had ever seen a Librarian, which meant ramrod straight posture and stone faced.

"Just Austin, please," I answered as I tentatively took a step forward, "And I need to learn about a lot of things if I'm going to Survive this place. Also," I said as I looked down at the state of my clothes, "I might have to look up how to sew while I'm here," I said with a shrug.

Janette nodded her head as she also looked at my clothes with distaste, her arms folded across her chest. "Might I suggest also one of the First Aid books? You seem to be covered in blood."

"Now that you mention it," I said as I began trying to futilely wipe some of the offending substance away.

"Don't bother, there's more Blood than Fiber left as it stands," she scoffed with a wave of her hand. She cut her eyes to the side, towards where the young huntsman still was, before she pushed her glasses further up her nose and returned her attention to me. "As it stands, we cannot accept any more civilians into the shelter, we are well over capacity already."

"It's fine, I didn't come to stay," I said happily, curious why the quest hadn't been completed yet.

"I don't think you understand me," she said lowly, with a look that reminded me of someone eating a lemon, "We are well over the limit of people we can supply here, and we cannot allow anyone else in."

I must've just been really dense, because I didn't understand what she was saying, or more why she were saying it, "No, I think I got it. You got a lot of people in your basement. Can I get my books now?" I questioned sincerely.

"Go get us some food and we'll trade!" came a shout from behind Janette, who colored and placed her head in her hands. I leaned to the side and made eye contact with the Huntsman before leaning back in and making eye contact with Janette.

"You guys need food?" I asked slowly, unsure why this was taking so long. If I needed something I usually just took it.

"Uh, yes we do," she confirmed, a tiny bit of color on her cheeks, "I just don't think the government should have to rely on civilians to feed those in need. And as this Library was placed under my protection it feels like a personal failure to ask for help."

I blinked at her, before another screen popped up, detailing what they had just told me. "Right, well unless you caused the Invasion it ain't your fault," I intoned casually, "But please gather me some books on Grimm, Sewing, and First Aid for when I get back." I left with a smile, Jumping high into the air and then running to where my map told me the nearest Supermarket was, a Food Gazelle fourteen blocks away.

When I finally reached the rooftop across the street from it I was startled to find a pair of juvenile Beowolf sleeping in the raggy street, numbering from level one to four. I squinted in consternation as a screen popped up in front of my face, with a new message.

 **Warning!**

 **Entering Dangerous Area**

 **Recommended Level: 9**

 **Enter?**

I blinked at the message a few times before it hit me, 'That shits way out of my league! I almost died to one Gang Member, there's No way I survive a Den of Grimm!'. I focused back on the screen before I frowned at the Greyed out option where the Accept or decline usually were placed. Stubbornly I tried to press the Greyed out bar anyways, and two more screens came up to greet me.

 **Complete the Tutorial to Unlock this Option.**

 **Sometimes the World presents learning opportunities to great to miss out on.**

 **Quest Received: Kill or be Killed!**

 **Wonder if what they say about a cornered Wolf is true?**

 **-Clear the Dungeon in order to Leave the Dungeon.**

 **Rewards; Randomized Loot and 5 Free Points.**

I looked skywards and sighed, 'What did I do to deserve this?' before Jumping off the roof and towards my exit.

 _End of Chapter 2._

 **Austin**

 **Class: Whelp**

 **Lvl 5: 205/500 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 1750/1750 (Hp = (Con*10)*Lvl, Dth = -(Hp/3)) HP Regen (((Con/2)*lvl)/60 + Con/8) per Second : 5.841 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 350/350 (Stm = Con*10) Stm Regen ((2*Con)/60 + Con/4) per second = 9.91 Stm/Sec**

 **Str: 25**

 **Dex: 5**

 **Con: 35**

 **Agi: 5**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 16**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 62.4 = (25 (Str) + 6 (Bike Chain)+ (5% of Str = 1.25 = 1)) + (80% from Brawling! + 15% from Chain Mastery)**

 **Def: Phys; 4%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **Iron Will; 50% decrease of Status effects applied to Austin. Ex. Cripple; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed. Inherited from Nan.**

 **?; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the ? Skill. Inherited from ?.**

 **?; ?.**

 **Relentless; Immune to Fatigue. 2*Str when Hp below 50%. Gained through ?.**

 **Self-Respect; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You? Gained Through The Little Things.**

 **Marked; +500 Renown, 15% chance to encounter a Hitman when entering or exiting an area.**

 **Regenerator; When most people lose limbs it's permanent.**

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **Skills:**

 **-Running! Level 11; 2% to next level.**

 **Run Bitch Run, Dey gonna get you!**

 **Move at 250% of your base movement speed.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second.**

 **Maximum running Speed: 5.7 mph**

 **-Brawling! Level 16; 59% to next level.**

 **I fight like I eat; Aggressively.**

 **A sloppy Hand to Hand style focused on raw physicality over finesse.**

 **Skill gives access to all Techniques used and observed by the Skill.**

 **+80% to all damage done with this Skill.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second**

 **-Chain Mastery. Level 3; 12.9%**

 **The Weapon of Goons world-wide, learn to be the ultimate goon.**

 **+15% Atk while a Chain is equipped.**

 **-Power Attack; Level 4. 67%**

 **Effort is pain, in this case it's someone else's.**

 **Expend Stm to increase damage on a basic attack.**

 **For Every point of Stamina, add .70% of damage to Atk.**

 **-Blocking. Level 4;**

 **"Did you tell her about your Herpes?"**

 **The Art of Blocking an attempt.**

 **(Active) Costs (Dmg-Con) Stm/Block.**

 **Blocks 65% of damage on a succesful Block.**

 **-Computer Science. Level 17; 23% to next level.**

 **+34% words per minute typed.**

 **-Skill Learned: Mitigation, Level 2.**

 **Pain is as temporary as it is annoying.**

 **Take 4% less physical Damage.**

 **-Skill Learned: Intimidation; Level 5.**

 **You don't want to see me angry.**

 **For every 5% of health the target is missing, 5% more likely to answer a question honestly.**

 **-Skill Learned: Power Jump! Level 5.**

 **If that bird shat on your car it'd dent the Hood.**

 **Through pure physicality Soar through the Air.**

 **Costs 46 Stm to jump your Str in Feet, Current base Distance 20 feet.**

 **Costs 97 Stm to Jump twice your Str in Feet.**

 **Costs 148 Stm to Jump Thrice your Str in Feet.**

 **Stm = N*46 + (N-1)*5, where N is the Coefficient of your strength, to reach N*Str Feet.**

 **-Skill Learned: Detect Bloodlust, Level 1.**

 **Is it just me or does it feel a little Deadly in here?**

 **Detection Range: 1 Yard.**

 **IN DEPTH STATS:**

 **Str(ength): 25**

 **A numerical representation of how much force you can generate with your body.**

 **Current Max Carry Weight: (Str*2.5 + 50lbs) = 112.5lbs**

 **?**

 **Dex(terity): 5**

 **A numerical representation of how much control over your movements you have.**

 **Critical Hit Modifier: Deal 100 + (Dex*2.5) % to Damage done by a Critical Hit; +112.5%.**

 **Critical Area Modifier: Dex*2% Larger Critical Area; 10% Larger Critical Area.**

 **Con(Stitution): 35**

 **A numerical representation of how healthy and sturdy you are.**

 **Hp: 1750/1750 (Hp = (Con*10)*Lvl, Dth = -(Hp/3))**

 **Stm: 350/350 (Stm = Con*10)**

 **Agi(lity): 5**

 **A numerical representation of how well you can move, as in pure speed.**

 **Current Base movement speed: (Agi*.05 + 2mph) = 2.25 mph.**

 **Int(illegence): 5**

 **A numerical representation of your ability to store knowledge.**

 **?**

 **Wis(dom): 5**

 **A numerical representation of your ability to utilize information.**

 **?**

 **Cha(risma): 1**

 **A numerical representation of your appeal to others.**

 **Renown Modifier; (Cha*5)% of Renown gained from Achievements and Quests; 5%.**

 **A numerical representation of your appeal to others.**

 **Res(ilience): 16**

 **A numerical representation of your ability to overcome hardships.**

 **Reduction to Critical Hits: Take Res*2.5% less damage from incoming Critical Hits; -40%%.**

 **Personal Critical Area Modifier: Your Critical Area is Res*2% smaller; 32% smaller.**

 **?**

 **Renown Level: 25/100 Anonymous**


	3. Prologue: Part 3

**Warning!**

 **Entering Dangerous Area**

 **Recommended Level: 9**

 **Enter?**

* * *

I swiped away the message with a raspy growl as I hurtled through the air, having used 100 Stamina to launch myself up above my quarry before I spent the remaining 250 on charging a Power Attack as I fell.

The first Beowolf was crushed beneath me as I landed on it's spine with my fist. It's partner froze in place as I crushed it's comrade and I took advantage of the hesitation brutally. My legs coiled beneath me as I flicked my left arm to unspool the Bike Chain. I had regenerated enough Stamina to make it fifteen feet with my power jump, which was just enough to get me to the beast.

I fell upon it with a recklessness born of Desperation, sure that if I let up even for a second it would mean having a very bad time of it. I bodily hit the Monster in it's face, my momentum knocking it over as I slowed. I landed with my knees pressing down it's arms by the elbows and leaned into a savage blow meant to stun before wrapping the chain around its neck.

I pulled with all I could as it flailed under me and tried it's best to Howl or Roar out at the indignation to dying to a Human. But I didn't care and I pulled until the Chain pierced the skin and then decapitated the beast. It lay silent under me as it decomposed and I regenerated Stamina, Panting all the while.

The key word to that tiny encounter had been _Silent_ , because even with my limited knowledge on Grimm I knew that a Beowolf's Howl was the _only_ reason it was dangerous. A Civilian could outsmart a single Beowolf and survive, but the larger the group the smarter and more dangerous they become. A Pack of over 100 is said to be almost as deadly as a C+ Elder Grimm.

And I had managed to mitigate the Danger for now. I stood on surprisingly steady legs, because I knew I probably should have been shaking in my boots, but I found that I was only filled with an intense desire to rid _my city_ of such pests. And now I found myself with the Ability to do so.

Smiling momentarily, I looked around with curiosity as only one of those twice be damned Screens had popped during the Fight.

* * *

 **Mechanic; Dungeons!**

 _ **While inside a Dungeon, an Adventurer is expected to focus on his quest solely, not on his own personal progress.**_

 **While inside Dungeons remove Access to Status, Skills, Options, ?, and ?.**

 **Boon of** _ **?**_ **; All creatures do 20% more Damage inside the Dungeon.**

 **All Exp and Skill Exp Doubled, but Tallied and Awarded after Clearing the Dungeon, though new skills will still Show up.***

* * *

 **Skill Branched: Lunge, Level 2.**

 **Deal 120% of Attack after travelling a distance equal to your Power Jump.**

* * *

I sighed at that last Sentence, but happy to see that my limited HUD still included my Hp and Stm Bars, so i had all the real information that I needed. I was slightly less confident than when I started, now that I knew that I wouldn't be levelling inside the Dungeon, but I pushed on regardless.

I slowly and carefully moved towards the door to the _Food Gazelle_ , noticing that despite the Sun that was trying to shine through the Smoke and Clouds above my Head I could see _Nothing_ through the Windows of the Store. Unsettled I braced myself as I opened the Door.

* * *

 **You Have Entered "Food Gazelle"!**

 _ **We Live to Feed!**_

* * *

I saw the inside of the doorway, the tile floors and the smell of Produce I had known since I could remember, but even as I watched the shelves of groceries stretched upwards bringing all of the Food I sought towards the ceiling, which was now so high above me I could barely see it in the dimly lit Building, and leaving me with only bare, newly grown shelves. The tiles began to age dramatically, some groaning and cracking from some unseen force and others being popped out of place by roots that had grown just as rapidly. I saw pillars of granite spring from the ground and shove their way through the comparatively flimsy aluminum shelves.

As I turned side to side to admire the strange mixture of supermarket and ancient castle ruins I heard the Door slam shut behind me. I turned towards the sound in a loose guard, but was surprised to find that the door I had entered through was nowhere to be seen and had instead been replaced by a Corridor.

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked: Baby's First Dungeon!**

 _ **Look at that, he's taking his first steps! Bobby, Get the Camera!**_

 **You have entered your first, and potentially last, dungeon.**

 **Rewards; Self-Mapping Mode added to your Minimap!**

* * *

I blinked at the reward before watching my map detail out my immediate surrounding, with my range seemingly being only limited to sight-line. I took a moment to test it out, seeing that when I moved something it was left as a pale gray after image on the Map. Which could be helpful, probably.

I then put my back against the wall and debated heading left or right, only coming to a decision when I heard muffled growling and shuffling coming from my right, and following Video Game Logic Enemies meant either Loot or the correct direction, both of which I looked forward to.

I decided that the enclosed spaces were actually to my liking, as they were only wide enough for two or three people, maybe two small Beowolfs so I had a bottleneck to utilize for my close quarters Style. I cautiously but at a decent clip as I walked down the hallway… Aisle… towards the increasingly close sounds. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a screen popped in front of my face.

* * *

 **Skill Learned: Listening! Level 1.**

 _ **My eyes are one of five senses I can use, so why rely on just one?**_

 **(Passive) Detection: (5*Lvl + Lvl*Res*.5) % = 13 % (increase to Passive 30%) of Stealthed Units.**

 **(Active) Detection*(1+.25*Level), move at ½ Movement Speed while Active. If still,**

 **double the effect.**

 **Range = 20 + Lvl*5 = 25 Feet.**

* * *

 **Stats insufficient to Learn Skill; 10 Agi and 10 Dex Required.**

* * *

' _Odd time to pop,_ ' I thought, ' _unless..._ ' I looked up to find four pairs of baleful red eyes returning the favor, ' _There is something to hear. Shite_.' And almost as if they had heard my curse, they Howled and lunged for me. Three of the **Lvl 4 Beowolf** s piled up on each other as they fell snarling and struggling to get a better angle as I performed a sloppy Hip Toss on the Grimm that fell towards me. As it bounced upon the broken floor with a roar I Charged my Power Attack with 150 Stamina as I stomped on it's head, and was rewarded with a Wet crunching noise as I bashed it's snout into the back of it's head, as well as a Beowolf landing upon my Shoulders.

I Power Jumped off of the Shelf in front of me, slamming it into and bending the Shelf behind me before grabbing it by its neck and slamming the relatively small Grimm into the floor in front of me. Before I could finish it off the other Beowolfs Lunged and took a hold of me. One had me by the Collarbone and the other had tried and failed to latch onto my left arm, which I immediately Backhanded as Hard as I could. It bounced off the shelf further down the Corridor even as I Gripped the Beowolf on my neck by the Head and _Squeezed_ until it pops like a balloon.

Then I Threw the corpse at the Lunging Beowolf, knocking it off course before Stomping continuously on the Beowolf trying to stand in front of me. Then I unravelled the Chain as I heard a Howl to my left, throwing the weapon out to my right before stepping towards the Beowolf jumping towards me and slamming it with a Power attack that ended it relatively Quickly.

As it's nearly bisected body fell to the ground another Notification made itself Known.

* * *

 **-Bruiser:**

 _ **I talk with my fists**_ **.**

 **Deal 1000 Physical Damage.**

 **Rewards; + 5% Base Attack Damage, + 1 Free Point.**

* * *

 **-Burly:**

 _ **I can take a hit or two.**_

 **Receive 1000 Damage.**

 **Rewards; +5% Hp, +10% Hp Regen, and +1 Free Point.**

* * *

I nodded as the good news kept rolling in, watching calmly as my Hp ticked back up from **1053/1750** and evened out my breathing as I tried to Listen and Detect any Bloodlust aimed at me. Thankfully I found nothing as it quickly returned and then I continued down the Corridor, watching both the path and my Map, which displayed the ranges for both Listening and Detect Bloodlust as Different coloured Radar Rings centered on my Dot. Convenient.

I saw that there was a Fork in my path, and When I looked down the Aisle of Shelves I saw the disconcerting sight of a Dead Body. I found that my… Ability?... had removed their Name Tag and while I mourned the loss of information slightly, it was somehow respectful of the Dead to me. I moved cautiously down the Corridor before Speeding up when I heard the sound of sniffling.

I ducked my head down low to see under the Shelves and was rewarded with the sight of a young Girl, holding her knees to her chest as she sniffled and rubbed at her nose. The sight tugged at my heart, and I _hesitantly_ called out to her, a gruff " _Oi_ " was as hesitant as I or my Charisma got. She was startled out of her pity party and yelped as she fell over.

 **Ashley Charbon**

 **Lvl 1 Civilian**

 **Ashen Princess**

"What are you doing under there, Girlie?" I asked as I beckoned her over. If anything that just seemed to scare her more, but I had long been hardened to people's reactions to my face.

Or more specifically My eyes.

My Grimm-Red Eyes.

"N-No!" she called in a voice much larger than her size would suggest. She scrambled to hide further away from me, but I knew that I couldn't just leave her in this Pit of Death. That would be like killing her myself. So I instead crouched and slowly walked towards her in what I hoped was mostly non-threatening. I don't think it worked as she threw a rock at me, but it was the best I had.

"Ya can't stay here," I said as I held out my hand to her, "I killed a few of them but there's always more." She stilled at my words, but her eyes still held fear and distrust.

"You killed the mean doggies?" She asked quietly, hopefully, darting her eyes to the body lying to my left, now I could see that it was a younger woman that looked remarkably like the girl in front of me. The same Coal Black Hair, The same pale skin, and high cheekbones. And the eyes that stared at some unseen destination were the same yellow, full of fear in their last moments. I sighed as I reached over to close her eyes, but the Young Girl in front of me stopped me with a shaky voice, "S-stop! Don't touch my Momma!"

"But she needs her rest," I _comforted_ , wincing internally at how bad at this I actually was, "And she can't do that with her eyes open." She still had a fierce look on her face, but flashes of sadness and panic crossed it as she looked at her late mother, "Maybe you should do it instead?" I asked, honestly stumped with what to do here.

The young girl didn't answer me for a little while, so I focused on my Minimap in case something heard her yelling earlier. "I-is Mama Dead?' came the squeak of her Voice, now two or three feet closer than before. Her Mother's right hand was balled up in a fist, and now laid in her Daughter's Lap.

She couldn't be more than Seven years old, and already she was going to have to witness something like this. I could see the years of Self-Isolation, the Loner tendencies, and the lack of friends that had been my response to such a similar scenario.

 _Flashes of Fire and Blood. Bodies and limbs in piles and no movement other than his own. He struggled to get out from under the Body that pinned him to the ground. The sight of a face so Familiar it hurt to think about._

I shook myself out of it, Denying my Mind the opportunity to fall back down that Hole. I instead focused on the softly crying girl in front of me, trying in vain to keep them in. I sighed, before I stood and looked down at her. She could mourn later, when we were both out of this Claustrophobic Dungeon. "We gotta Move," I said bluntly, but not unkindly.

At this she cried in full, trying to stand while clinging to her Mother's Hand, "But she can't be dead! She said we'd go to Vale, that when we got there we'd find Poppa. And then We'd eat all the ice cream we could buy, and then beg until they gave us the rest! And -" she finally stopped to take a breath, but found herself unable to continue as she wiped away at the Tears and snot that ran down her face, "A-and She Promised!" And then she wept, unable to make noise as the sobs tore through her body, and jolted her in place.

I don't quite know why, but in all my infinite wisdom, or was it stupidity, I decided to place my hand upon her tiny head. I knew that I was trying to comfort her in my own awkward way, but what actually threw me for a loop was when she actually began to calm, though I kept an eye on the Minimap for incoming Hostiles. Then I felt her shift under my palm, and when I looked at her, I saw determination and sadness in her eyes, and if I'm honest I'd never seen a child look like that before and it made my insides hurt. "Momma promised, but so did I," she informed me, stubbornly wiping away at stray tears.

I knew a statement that needed a response when I heard one, living with Old Nan for ten years had seen to that skill long before the Game I lived. "And what did you promise her, Lass?" I took my hand off her head, looking her in her eyes, that achingly familiar look still present.

"I promised I wouldn't cry," she said defiantly, to her tears not me, "She had me promise when the mean doggies took Poppa to Vale," and it just got worse and worse. "So I'm done crying Mister," she finished imperiously, as though there was no room for argument. I nodded, agreeing with the sentiment, before suddenly she looked lost.

So I distracted her, my only tactic for sad or angry women.

"Would you like to keep anything to remember her by?" I know I wished that I had, all those years ago, "It'll help, I swear it will." All the lonely nights, the sad nights, or just the nights your memory wasn't good enough it helped to have something to remember them by.

She looked at me, and I could see her think it over before she furrowed her eyebrows at me, "Are you sure that it'll help? I don't wanna take her stuff if doesn't," I frowned as I thought about how to respond, before I settled on a solemn "I promise" as I watched the Minimap, more to avert my eyes than anything else. She nodded equal parts solemn before walking around to her mother's stil clenched fist. She slowly opened it, and the clinical part of my brain noticed that Rigor mortis hadn't set in, before removing two matching rings from her ring finger. "Mama said that she took Papa's Ring when he left, so now I'll take them both."

I nodded at the choice before stepping around to the woman's head and kneeling next to it and closing her eyes, but this time Ashley helped me do so. Then I stood and nodded down at the girl, "I'll have to fight a few more Grimm to get us both out of here, so I'll need you to stay quiet and behind me at all times. Am I clear?" She nodded and I spun on my heel before stalking down the corridor.

We had spent 30 minutes walking before any more Hostiles showed up, and now that I had a ward I was much less willing to throw them around or let them past. My unyielding Block caught two Lvl 5 Beowolfs before I let an almighty power attack that split both of them in two, and my Chain wrapped around the Lvl 6 Beowolf by the leg as it lunged for Ashley, and I stepped forward and swinging the Grimm as a fleshy flail against the last Beowolf, who was also Lvl 5. I beat the the two together until they fell apart under the stress of the onslaught.

When I was done I was panting and bleeding from my right arm heavily, but a ten minute break had me right as rain. The next thing we came across was a Heavy Door, Wooden and reinforced with steel beams running across it. As all of my senses brought me no information from beyond the door, I scowled at it before turning around to address my companion.

"I need you to stay out here, okay?" I looked over my shoulder at the door that seemed to reach into a void, "I think this is the last thing I have to fight, but I could be wrong. Either way I want you to stay here until I come and get you." She hesitantly nodded and I patted her head once more as she clambered under the Bottom shelf of the nearest Stack.

* * *

 **Warning; Powerful Enemy Ahead.**

 _ **The key to clearing a dungeon is killing the Boss, who is holding the location together.**_

* * *

I grit my teeth as I pushed the doors open, not at all surprised by the Roar that sounded in response. My eyes fell upon the vaguely human form of the **Lvl 11 Beowolf Minor** , which was bent and covered in spiky bone plates, but if it had just been a larger Beowolf I believe that I would have had no problem, but there was its title which gave me pause.

 _ **Fire Dust Infused**_

This was further proved to be an issue when it roared a second time and it's spikes caught on fire as well as a little smoke that came from its mouth. Then It made to Charge at me and I Roared my Challenge in return.

' _Don't care how special you are, asshat,_ ' I thought as I slid under it's attempt at a bear hug, ' _I gotta kill ya no matter what._ ' and then I had to focus on not being thrashed. I stepped outside of it's swiping claw, but I was still hurt by the Fire that were now alight on it's arms. I stepped under the seven foot tall monster's chomp that I almost caught to the noggin, and put every bit of Stamina into the Power Attack and Lunge Combo that took us tumbling. When we stopped rolling I was on fire, but on it's chest where I landed punch after punch into its head even as I ignored the Crushing Nails that tried to break me.

I was forcefully launched from it's body as it it's feet on my chest and tried to rip my arms off, but found that doing so was harder than it would have thought. Instead I ended up rolling into the Wall before Standing once again, now that my Stamina was nearly a quarter full again I settled into my guard as I walked towards it. I noticed that the room that we were fighting in was an expanded version of the Manager's Office, but I had Block quickly as it tried to Tackle me to the floor, but Instead found itself being rebuffed by my arms. When it came for a Wild Haymaker I stepped into the Attack and Caught the arm, trapping it with my Right arm as I unravelled the Chain once more.

My feral Grin widened as it's furiously tried to push me away, but **Relentless** gave me more than enough strength to hold in place as I charged the remainder of my Stamina into one More Power Attack.

* * *

 **(50 (** _ **Str**_ **with Relentless** _ **)**_ **\+ 6 (** _ **Bike Chain)**_ **\+ (** _ **5% of Str**_ **)) = 59*(1+.8(Brawling)+.15(Chain)+.05(Bruiser))= 118 Base Atk**

 **Power Attack = .7*322 = 225.4%**

 **Critical Multilpier = 112.5%-2.5% = 110%**

 **Damage = 118*(1.1+2.254) =** **395.772**

* * *

And Down came my Crude Weapon, the Bike Chain cutting almost as well as any sword. It cleaved down through the head and most of its neck before it stopped against one of the plates on its back. The arm I held went slack as it fell limp, and as I released it began to deteriorate. Along with it went the dungeon, deteriorating at the same rate as shelves fell to their original height and with them brought the food I had been brought here by.

"Oi!" I called from the Office, stepping outside of it only to see that Ashley had _not_ been crushed in the process as she stood from her hiding place to my left. "You alright? Good then, let's get moving Girlie." I began grabbing as much food as I could carry, even as the tiles were still returning to their original state. The moment the Place had returned to it's normal self I was bombarded by Notification Screens.

* * *

 **Skill Levels Gained:**

 **Power Jump: 2**

 **Lunge: 3**

 **Power Attack: 6**

 **Brawling: 9**

 **Chain Mastery:6**

 **Listen: 10**

 **Detect Bloodlust: 7**

 **Block: 4**

 **Mitigation: 13**

* * *

 **Quest Updated: Font of Knowledge!**

 _ **Yes, that was a Font Pun! I should be a**_ **comic** _ **.**_

 **-Return with the Supplies and report to Janette.**

 **Rewards: Access to Information, + 1 Free point.**

* * *

 **Quest Completed: Kill or be Killed!**

 _ **Wonder if what they say about a cornered Wolf is true?**_

 **-Clear the Dungeon in order to Leave the Dungeon.**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **-Killed all Grimm in the Dungeon; + 500 Exp.**

 **-Rescued Civilian; + 500 Exp, 1 Free Point.**

 **-?**

 **Rewards; Randomized Loot and 5 Free Points.**

 **Kill Exp; 575 exp.**

* * *

 **Exp: 1575*2(Whelp) = 3150 Exp gained!**

 **Level Up! + 4**

 **Free Points + 20**

* * *

I smiled at the Screens before I mentally brought up the **Status** screen.

* * *

 **Austin**

 **Class: ?***

 **Lvl 9: 800/900 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 4725/4725**

 **Stm: 500/500**

 **Str: 40**

 **Dex: 9**

 **Con: 50**

 **Agi: 6**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 25**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 124.8 Dmg**

 **Def: Phys; 30%.**

* * *

I quickly dumped my **Free Points** where I wanted them, more Res as the Perk Tree had looked great and Dex to increase my Critical Damage and Hit box as well as the usual increase to Str and Con, as I was walking carrying around 100 pounds of Food and didn't want to walk into something, but then another Screen came up with a new message.

* * *

 **Choose your Class!**

 _ **At Lvl 5, Lvl 25, Lvl 50, and Lvl 75 you will outgrow your class and will need to choose a replacement (All Level Stat Gains are retroactive if you pass the Mark).**_

 **Class Options:**

 **-** _ **For getting to Level 5**_ **; Novice:**

 **+50% Experience gain.**

 **+1 Free Point per Level.**

 **-** _ **For getting Past Level 5**_ **; Competent Novice:**

 **+65% Experience gain.**

 **+1 Wis and +1 Free Point per Level.**

 **-** _ **For Getting the Str Stat to 20**_ **; Fighter:**

 **+1 Str per Level.**

 **-** _ **For Getting the Con Stat to 20**_ **; Wall:**

 **+1 Con per Level.**

 **-** _ **For Getting the Con Stat to 40**_ **; Survivalist:**

 **+3 Con per Level.**

 **Gain the Survival Skill.**

 **-** _ **For Getting the Res Stat to 20**_ **; Denier:**

 **+1 Res per Level.**

 **-** _ **For Getting Both Con and Str to 20**_ **; Barbarian:**

 **+1 Con and +1 Str per Level.**

 **-1 Wis per Level**

 **-** _ **For Getting Both Res and Str to 20**_ **; Knight:**

 **+1 Res and +1 Str per Level.**

 **-1 Int per Level.**

 **-** _ **For Getting Both Res and Con to 20**_ **; Meat-Shield:**

 **+1 Res and +1 Con Per Level.**

 **-1 Agi per Level**

 **-** _ **For Getting the**_ **Brawling!** _**Skill to Level 10**_ **; Brawler:**

 **+1 Str per Level.**

 **+1% to the Brawling Skill's Bonus per Level of the Skill.**

 _ **For Getting the**_ **Brawling!** _**Skill to Level 20**_ **; Brawl King:**

 **+2 Str Per Level.**

 **+2% to the Brawling Skill's Bonus per Level of the Skill.**

 **-Restricted to the use of Brawling! Until next Class.**

 **-1 Dex and -1 Res per Level.**

 **-** _ **For Fighting and Winning against an opponent twice (or more) than your Level**_ **; Big Game Hunter:**

 **+1 Agi, +1 Dex, and +1 Wis per Level.**

 **+1 Free Point per Level.**

 **+50% Renown points.**

 **Gain the Bounty Board Mechanic.**

 **-** _ **For Risking your Life for another without perceived Reward**_ **; Protector:**

 **+2 Con, +2 Res, +1 Str, and +1 Dex Per Level.**

 **+50% Movement Speed towards Injured Friendlies.**

 **-2 Cha and -2 Int per Level.**

 **-100% Renown points gained, Reset to Zero, Replaces Renown Title With Helper.**

 **-25% Monetary and Loot Rewards from Quests.**

 **-** _ **For Killing a dozen (or More) Grimm without a license**_ **; Unofficial Huntsman:**

 **+1 Str, +2 Agi, and +2 Dex per Level.**

 **+50% Hazard Pay.**

 **-50% Renown points.**

 **-2 Wis per Level.**

* * *

My eyes widened as the Flood of options appeared before my eyes, and then they nearly fell out reading some of the descriptions. So many looked tempting, and some were plain eliminated immediately for the Drawbacks. But when I actually read through the why I had unlocked each option, I knew that there was really only one choice. I looked over beside me to Ashley, and frowned at the entirely too serious expression on her Face and the Rings that were entirely too large for her to wear, and I knew which I'd be Picking.

I may not have had anything else to strive for before today, but Protecting her and others like her from the Fate I knew awaited them if they followed my Path seemed like a good enough reason for me.

* * *

 **Austin**

 **Class: Protector**

 **Lvl 9: 800/900 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 5481/5481**

 **Stm: 580/580**

 **Str: 44**

 **Dex: 13**

 **Con: 58**

 **Agi: 6**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 33**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 135.2 Dmg**

 **Def: Phys; 30%.**

* * *

As we walked the fourteen blocks back to the Library I was once again thankful that the Shopping district had yet to come under extreme Threat and was still relatively safe to walk through, though we did have to go out of our way to avoid a fairly large Sinkhole that had opened up in the Road. Ashley and I talked, or at least I did and she listened quietly along,as I gave her my less than stellar renditions of my Childhood and times with Nan. I told her of the people I lived with and helped keep me afloat through my troubles by offering to help with rent or paying me to do things I would have already done.

And most importantly, I told her about how crazy my life had gotten in the last two days. I told her about the first Supermarket and Thomas, I told her about the Ambush from the Squirrel Lady, and I told her about the hard time the Library had been having to feed their wards. I also jokingly mentioned that I was on a fetch quest, but she just gave me funny look like she didn't understand so I left it alone.

When I finally returned to the Library, the response was much less urgent or over the top than the first time, which I believe I can attribute to the fact I didn't fall out of the sky and now had a child and food. I felt Ashley shuffle closer to my side as the impromptu guards eyed me up, but they smiled at her and waved us through.

I began to look about to try and find Janette, but my eyes were drawn to an altercation happening at the Door, mostly due to the Information floating above their heads.

 **Qrow Branwen**

 **Lvl 15 Huntsman**

 _ **Walking Disaster**_

I wondered what had happened to help him level up in the two hours I had been gone, but I resolved to ask him after I had turned in the quest.

 **Summer Rose**

 **Lvl 13 Swordswoman**

 _ **Dust in the Wind**_

 **Taiyang Xiao-Long**

 **Lvl 10 Brawler**

 _ **Drowning in it**_

At the back of the group of four stood a petite young woman with porcelain skin and whose hair faded from Black to Red, and wore a white hooded cloak while fidgeting enough to make _me_ nervous. On her belt hung a standard sized sword as well as a few pouches that tinkled with her movements. Beside her with his head in his hands stood a young Blonde man broad in the shoulder with gauntlets on his hands. He wore a dark brown collared shirt open a little too far for comfort and bandoliers of ammo across his shoulders. And the reason that he was in despair and the girl standing next to him was nervous would be because-

" _Skank!"_ Qrow yelled at the Young woman holding him off the ground by the front of his shirt. " _Put me down!_ " I could immediately see a familial resemblance in them, as both of their eyes flashed blood red and their Nostrils Flared as the spittle flew from his mouth and he flailed in her grasp in indignation.

 **Raven Branwen**

 **Lvl 19 Ronin**

 _ **Try and Stop me**_

"No," she stated much more calmly than the vigorous shaking would suggest, "Because apparently if I let you out of my sight for even a second you will disappear and reappear in a different city defending a _Library_ of all things," She turned casually to the two people behind her, "Unfortunately I will unable to fight at full strength as I need at least an arm to keep a hold of my _Idiot_ brother." Then her eyes met mine and Ashley yelped as she hid behind me.

Qrow's face went from disgruntled to pleasantly surprised from his new position being carried under her arm like purse, "Hey, Look! He survived," he tried his best to look over his shoulder and Yell, "Janette! Your Charity case made it back." Then he went right back to trying to escape the grasp of his sister, like a housecat who wanted down. As the exchange became less heated and more comical both Summer and Ashley giggled at his plight.

I shook my head as I moved past them, kind of unnerved by the stare I could feel drilling into the side of my head, and was relieved when I heard the clack of Heels on Tile over the General mull of the Civilians inside. Around the Brick wall that used to be dedicated to the Book of the Month she strode confidently towards the Door, with a stack of books in her hands. Her fairly stern and disciplined face morphed to one of shock as she stopped, "That is a lot of food, Austin," she said slowly.

I shrugged my shoulders and the heap of groceries piled in and the bags hanging from my arms. "It's about 120 pounds," ' _It's actually more, but no need to brag,_ ' "Mostly canned soup and anything I could find that you didn't need to heat. I also took a tarp to wrap most of the stuff in, might be useful." I leaned my head around the left of the pile, "Do you have anywhere you want this?"

She blinked at me, before smiling and nodding, "Yes, please bring it into the pantry. This way," And then she led me to a large Room towards the back of the Library, and the only reason I didn't stumble or trip over a table was my Mini-map and my **Listening** Skill mapping out the people around. I counted 37 people in the building and 6 guarding the outside. As I stepped into the threshold two Notifications popped in front of my face.

* * *

 **Skill Learned: Physical Conditioning, Level 1.**

 _ **Got Gains, Bro.**_

 **Increase Str and Con by Lvl %.**

 **Current Increase = + 1%**

* * *

 **Quest Completed: Font of Knowledge!**

 _ **Font Puns for the Win!**_

 **-Gained the Trust of Janette Greenburg and the Library!**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **-Return with more than 20 pounds of Food: 10 exp per Lbs over.**

 **Rewards; Access to Information, and + 1 Free Point.**

 **Bonus: 1100 exp.**

* * *

 **Level Up! + 2**

 **Free Points + 10**

 **Attribute Points + 1**

* * *

 **Choose a Perk!**

 **Available Attributes:**

 **-Juggernaut; 15 Str Required.**

 _ **Every point of Str lets you take .25% less physical Damage.**_

 **Allows access to the Decimator Perk Tree.**

 **-Marksman; 15 Dex Required*.**

 _ **Allows you to replace Str with Dex in Damage Calculator.**_

 _ **Immune to Blind Status.**_

 **Allows access to the Finesse Perk Tree.**

 **-Fast Regenerator; 30 Con Required.**

 **Regenerate a Quarter of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Half of your Con's worth of Stamina per Second.**

 **Ignore 5% of all Damage.**

 **-Made of Health; 25 Con and 15 Wis Required.**

 **Increase your Hp and Stm by 50%.**

 **-Spry in a Crisis; 15 Agi Required*.**

 _ **When in an enemy's line of sight passively double your Movement speed.**_

 _ **Immune to Paralysis Status.**_

 **Allows access to the Acrobat Perk Tree.**

 **-Apprentice; 15 Int Required*.**

 _ **Gain a 50% increase to the ? Skill and ?.**_

 **Allows access to the Scholar Perk Tree.**

 **-Clever; 15 Wis Required*.**

 _ **A 5% increase to all Skill Experience.**_

 _ **Gain access to the ? Skill.**_

 _ **50% resistance to the Silence Status.**_

 **Allows access to the Ponderer Perk Tree.**

 **-Exhibitionist; 15 Cha Required*.**

 _ **For every 1% of skin showing gain .5% resistance to all damage, 10% increase to Renown, and 10% increase to all Charisma Based Skills.**_

 **Allows access to the Silver-Tongue Perk Tree.**

 **-Enduring; 15 Res Required.**

 _ **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**_

 _ **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**_

 **Allows access to the Unyielding Perk Tree.**

* * *

I grunted in approval of the new Skill and confirmed the Enduring Attribute as I closed the screens. I decided to spend the Free Points when I wasn't being watched or wasn't being handed a stack of Books. "And here are the books you requested," Janette said pleasantly, "And thank you for bringing all this food, it must have been a hard trip."

I shook my head as I thought back, "No, the walk back wasn't that bad. It was the Supermarket that gave me trouble." I walked out of the Pantry and placed my five books, two on Grimm, two on First Aid, and one on Sewing, on the nearest Empty Table.

"Did you run into looters?" she asked with concern, "We had a few who made a run on our Defenses, but we managed to rebuff them. They truly are a nuisance, but as long as that young man is here we should be fine." She nodded towards the front door, where Raven now had Qrow in a headlock as she carried him around the Foyer as she surveyed the smashed up building.

I raised an eyebrow at that, not because he didn't look like much, but because his title and sister suggested this was a common occurrence for him. But at least he managed a Level out of the ordeal. I looked back towards Ashley who was still standing near me and eyeing those around her with mistrust. "Uh, no. I came across little miss Ashley here and had to pull her out of a tough spot with some Beowolfs," I clarified, brushing past the Mention of her mother.

"You fought Grimm?" I started as the question seemed to materialize from nowhere right by my left ear, flinching and turning towards Summer who had managed to move a hundred and fifty feet in the time it took me to turn my head. She bounced in place, hands held in front of her and a sparkle in her eyes as she looked at me, "Where are they! I've never fought Grimm before!" I looked at her with a quirked eyebrow, "Uh, Alone, that is."

Without even waiting for a response she began moving around me, pushing aside the table when it got in her way. She was a head shorter than me, but with the way she inspected me I suddenly felt very self-conscious. "Hmmm," she said after she had finished her inspection, "You said a few Beowolfs, but how many are we talking here? Two or three?" at my lack of response, because honestly she talked almost as fast she moved, "Maybe Five?"

"Actually-" I tried to answer that it had in fact been a dozen, my hand coming up to gesture for such, but this wasn't enough to be noticed, as she just carried on.

"Either way your Aura must be really strong to heal this quickly!" she stated matter-of-factly as she pulled my arm out in front of her. She poked experimentally where there was blood on the remains of my clothes but no wound, before she looked back at me and blushed at her actions. She quickly released my arm before taking a step back, "Uh, Sorry about that. I get carried away sometimes, in fact my Partner says that I get carried away with _everything_ so-"

"Summer," came a call from the direction of the door, and when I looked the rest of her group was walking over, and Qrow managed to look stern from his position hanging from his Sister's arm, "What did I tell you about touching people without asking permission? Or before you had even given them your name?" He sighed and shook his head at her, "Honestly, I've met some Hookers that aren't as forward as you."

And like that he was dropped on his face with a squawk, even as the other male audibly palmed his face and Summer turned a darker shade of red and a stuttering mess. I ignored her, confident she'd pull herself together eventually to shrug and turn back around to Janette, "Would you happen to have any Physics Textbooks laying around? I feel like I need a refresher," Which was a cover for checking to see how much my newfound life broke physics. The Magic extending Shelves of the Food Gazelle coming to mind automatically. Janette, who looked a little paler than before, simply nodded before moving off with Ashley in tow.

Seeing that Ashley seemed more or less comfortable with the motherly woman, I looked over at the Siblings squabbling, Taiyang watching with an amused look on his face, and Summer hiding her Head in her Hood. ' _Which_ ,' I observed clinically, ' _is adorable_.' I coughed to gather their attention, though Taiyang was the only one that really seemed to notice.

"So," I began as I opened up the first book in my pile, which happened to be one on Grimm, "Who are you four and what do you want?" I began flipping to the section on Pack-Type Grimm, intent on finding out more about the Monsters I had been fighting.

The Brawler responded without missing a beat, "I'm Taiyang Xiao-Long, the two a minute away from strangling each other are Qrow and my Partner, Raven Branwen, and the gibbering mess behind me is Summer Rose, my Leader," He nodded at each in turn, the Siblings stopping only to nod in my direction before returning to their spat and a muted "How do you do?" from Summer. He smiled at me as I looked up from my book, "We're Team STRQ, from Beacon. We were on a field assignment about fifty miles away from here, wiping out a den of Ursa Minors, when we lost Qrow in the fight. We spent all night looking in that forest, but we couldn't find a single clue as to where he went," He shook his head as Qrow looked sheepish for a second.

"And then," Continued Raven deadpan, "As we are all about to head back to the Village to get some rest, I get a call," She gave her brother the evil eye before moving on, "Telling us that he had forgotten to Charge his Scroll the night before, and that he had accidentally been dragged by one of the Smaller Ursa for two _hours_ and once his gun had dislodged the damaged bullet he was able to kill it. From there he saw the smoke over the City and rushed off to help. And only this morning was he able to use a hand charger to power his phone for the minute long conversation we had."

"You make it sound like it's my fault," muttered an embarrassed Qrow, "And they just showed up a few minutes ago, almost exactly when you did." I looked at him, unimpressed with the story, as I wondered just how he had been dragged for that long without getting away. But then again I had never fought Grimm before a few hours ago, so maybe it was a common occurrence.

The looks his Team continued to send his way told me that it was not.

"Anyways," Summer started, once more in control of herself, "What is going on here? Why are there Grimm running in the Street while the city burns?" She looked almost like a different person, the way that her posture and tone of voice changed made her look confident and in charge. And while the effect was mostly lost on me, from the way the rest of her team gave me their full attention the change wasn't lost on them.

"The City was breached almost a month ago," I started as my eyes narrowed. ' _Why in the world do they not know?_ ' I wondered, ' _Seems like something that should be front page news, though I may be a little biased_.' "Martial Law was declared a few days afterwards, as the Western Side of the City was Quarantined by the Military and there was a bit of a panic going on at the time. You haven't heard _any_ of this?" I asked rhetorically, as the shock on their faces was enough to answer for them. Still, they shook their heads mutely as they processed the information.

Summer recovered first, "But, what about the Hunter Corps, why weren't they called in?" She whispered harshly.

"Well," I began wondering where to start, "The western portion of the city is the industrial area, where they mine up the Dust our power grid runs on. It took about a week before it went down, leaving people to use Generators or other emergency alternatives, but the CCT was also in the Industrial District, and it fell within minutes of the start of this fiasco," I told them as I began to once again read the book in front of me, "And there's also the fact that the Prep School we had was _also_ in the West, so that limits the amount of people we could send to get help, as anyone who worked as a guard or Unlicensed Huntsman was drafted to stop it from spreading." I flipped the page, taking in the listed weak spots as fast as I could for each Grimm as I looked for the Beowolf Entry. ' _Why the hell isn't this alphabetical?_ ' I thought exasperatedly.

"But we have direct lines from Vale to the Mount through the Evacuation Tunnels, and those aren't on your Power Grids!" I briefly darted my eyes up to hers, finding an irate look on her face, before returning to what I was doing, "We should have been told, or at the very least the Council should have known! I don't understand why the entirety of Beacon isn't here right now helping!" Her hands were now balled into fists, the anger coloring her voice, but I paid it no mind.

"Then they probably do," I returned simply, "The Evacuation Tunnels are manned and operated by the Military, who are currently claiming that the situation isn't bad enough to warrant their use by the way, which means they're the only ones that have access to the landed lines. And I see no reason they wouldn't try and tell someone about this," I shrugged as I finished the line of thought, "So the Council knows and has decided to not do anything. Probably some moral mathematics on their end or something, though I may be giving them too much credit."

Raven, by far the calmest of the Four, nodded in agreement with the assessment while the other three looked to be constipated if the red tint to their faces were anything to go by. I read more and more, ignoring a Notification that popped during the process, waiting for them to continue the inquisition. Instead I was surprised when Summer tapped me on the shoulder, with a determined look on her face. "How can we help?" She asked simply.

I smiled at that, but as I had no idea of that myself I gestured all around me. "I'm sure the people in here probably could use some, try asking around if you want to." And with my piece said I closed the book in my hand and looked around for Ashley, as I felt a little bit responsible for the girl. When I couldn't hear her, I focused on my map to bring it into full view and quickly found her name and dot. I walked away from Team STRQ, going up the stairs to find Ashley calmly snoozing away. And after the day she had had I didn't blame her.

' _Actually,_ ' I thought idly, ' _I don't know why I'm not snoozing right next to her._ ' Before I could follow the thought further, Janette waved me out of the doorway and closed it behind her. On the door was her name and her occupation, indicating it as her own office. Me and her discussed Ashley, deciding that it would be best for her to stay here in the Shelter as opposed to with me, a stranger who she had only known for two hours at the most, very quickly. So she handed off the Book I had requested and moved to return to her office.

I thanked her, informed her of the Hunters-in-Training that were in the Main Room of the Library to offer assistance, and went to collect my books and go home. On my way down I pulled up the Notification to read through it.

* * *

 **Mechanic Unlocked; Bestiary!**

 **Bestiary Screen available!**

 **Skill Tree Unlocked; Veteran's Intuition!**

 _ **A Skill Tree is a group of very similar Skills, generally having the same generation data.**_

* * *

 **Skill Tree: Veteran Intuition:**

 **.5% increase in damage dealt and .25% decrease in damage received from this Enemy type.**

 **Enemies Encountered;**

 **Hooligans Level 18: 9% increase , 4.5% decrease.**

 **Monella Crime Syndicate: .5% increase, .25% decrease.**

 **Pack-Type Grimm Level 2: 1% increase, .5% decrease.**

 **Roamer-Type Grimm Level 1: .5% increase, .25% decrease.**

 **Trapper-Type Grimm Level 1: .5% increase, .25% decrease.**

 **Flier-typer Grimm Level 1: .5% increase, .25% decrease.**

* * *

I nodded at the information, glad to see that some things could be done without endangering my life, before quickly opening my status and putting four in Strength and Con each while the last three went into Res. ' _I'm making major life choices like other people play poker,_ ' I thought cynically. I closed the window disguised as waving goodbye to the Hunters-in-Training before gathering my books and walking out the front door.

I had a lot of reading to do, if that skill was anything to go by.

* * *

 _End of Chapter 3._

* * *

 **Austin**

 **Class: Protector:**

 **+2 Con, +2 Res, +1 Str, and +1 Dex Per Level.**

 **+50% Movement Speed towards Injured Friendlies.**

 **-2 Cha and -2 Int per Level.**

 **-100% Renown points gained, Reset to Zero, Replaces Renown Title With Helper.**

 **-25% Monetary and Loot Rewards from Quests.**

 **Lvl 11: 0/1100 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 8200/8200, HP Regen : 38 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 710/710, Stm Regen : 20 Stm/Sec**

 **Str: (54) 55**

 **Dex: 17**

 **Con: (70) 71**

 **Agi: 6**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 44**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 166.4**

 **Def: Phys; 30%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **Iron Will; 50% decrease of Status effects applied to Austin. Ex. Cripple; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **?; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the** _ **?**_ **Skill.** _ **Inherited from ?.**_

 **?; ?**

 **Relentless; Immune to Fatigue. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through ?.**_

 **Self-Respect; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **Marked; +500 Renown, 15% chance to encounter a Hitman when entering or exiting an area.**

 **Regenerator;** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent.**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **Enduring;** _**I can still fight.**_ **.**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

* * *

 _Yo. There was a guest review that I felt was worth addressing, and it was about the choice I made to remove the mechanic of the game that allowed other Gamer characters to become over powered, which is the_ **Stat Training** _mechanic. It usually allows the Character to fight far outside of what their Level would suggest,_ _and generally break the balancing of the Game itself. I don't know if it's obvious, but I have gone out of my way to make the system that I am working fair and Balanced. If a character tries hard enough they could have almost everything that any NPC in the game has, including skills and stats and Semblances with extreme experimentation and a detriment to effectiveness. Only individual **unique** attributes cannot be replicated, as they are usually genetic or dictated by something outside the system. So, to the Guest reviewer who mentioned it, I do know why the mechanic was implemented, and I hope that you can see why I have decided to omit it from my story; keeping things fair._

 _In case anybody reading is wondering why in the world he is getting so many free points, it's because everybody else gains there stat points via the_ **Stat Training** _mechanic previously mentioned_ _because their bodies are not limited by the game quite like his happens to be. In other words, he is actually lower in the amount of total Stat points than the "NPC" populace and is not actually gaining an inordinate amount of points._

 _Also worth mentioning is the Class System, which some may have seen as kind of broken, which is understandable, but every Human and Faunus have a class, and if they complete certain actions they will have just as much of a chance to become the relevant class and receive the bonuses it has to offer._

 _An outlier in this is the Mob, or Grimm, population, which only have the Four Physical Stats to worry about and therefore need less Points. Here's an example of how I have decided to generate Grimm in this Story._

Beowolf;

Hp; **(Con*5)*Lvl**

 **Exp; 10+5*Lvl.**

 **Def = 0%**

 **Mag Def = -100%**

 **Str = 9+Lvl*2**

 **Dex = 9+Lvl*2**

 **Con = 9 + Lvl**

 **Agi = 9 + Lvl*3**

 **Int = 1**

 **Wis = 1**

 **Cha = 1**

 **Res = 1**

 _So the equation for Health of each Beowolf by Level is simple, with a little Algebra, and comes out to_ **Hp; (90*Lvl+10*Lvl^2).**

 _Systematically created as they are, they are actually generally speaking a whole hell of a lot stronger than any NPC that hasn't put in a lot of time. Obviously the Formula is changed slightly for the advanced form of a Grimm but the Chaff are always going to follow a formula like this. And the major differences in stats between Mobs and Bosses will be determined by the Type of Grimm it is._

 _For instance, the Beowolf Minor had a bonus to Agility as it was a Pack Hunting Grimm._

 _But I find that it is important to note that the general tactic of Remnant is still the same in this Story with a heavy emphasis on acrobatic techniques rather than actual Defense or durability._

 _It's actually my biggest issue with the show/universe is how little they explained the defensive properties of Aura, because it seems like such a waste to have every major character have an inherent Shield but literally only one or two people use it in favor of avoiding attacks._

 _Alright, I've said enough. Jericho, Out._


	4. Prologue: Part 4

I spent the night familiarizing myself with the texts I had procured, happy to find that both First Aid and Sewing were Skills, before I decided to grind my new skills for the rest of the Night, Sewing, Physical Conditioning, and Listening to be specific. By the Morning I had gotten quite a bit of progress, but found that it was harder to train Conditioning than any other skill.

* * *

 **Skills Learned: First Aid, Level 1;**

 _ **That doesn't look quite right, the arm bone connects to the Shoulder bone, right?**_

 **Heal yourself or another when not in enemy line of sight or sustaining damage.**

 **Heal 5 Hp/Sec, requires appropriate medical supplies and 5 Stm/Sec.**

 **-Sewing, Level 6:**

 _ **Should have listened to Nan.**_

 **Restore Cloth Item Durability 6% per Level, requires Needle and Thread.**

* * *

 **-Physical Conditioning, Level 3;**

 **Increase Str and Vit by 3%**

 **-Listening, Level 14;**

 **(Passive) Detection: 70% (increase to Passive 30%) of Stealthed Units.**

 **(Active) Detection*4.5, move at ½ Movement Speed while Active. If still, double the effect.**

 _ **Active Range: 70 Feet.**_

* * *

I was almost back to my room when another Screen notified me of a disturbance, and less than two minutes later a notification signalling its end. When the Screen popped in front of my eyes declaring the Quest Completed, I didn't even have the energy to sigh. The **Quest** had been to repel the rioters attempting to trash my apartment complex, and not a single one of them was above level 2.

When I had jumped out the window of the third floor stairwell and landed on the **Hooligan** lighting a molotov cocktail before he could throw it, I was fairly sure I could take them. Because when I looked up I found all of the Vandals staring at me from under their face paint and masks with something akin to Terror, one even going so far as to soil himself.

My ego preened at the thought that my significant strides forwards were just that plain to see and I had finally earned the fear people looked upon me with. The rest of me noted that I was still wearing my "Work Out" Clothes, I had just casually stomped their leader into the ground, and I was currently standing in the middle of a gasoline fire without a sign of pain. I think my eyes were just the cherry on top, finishing my image of a demon come to take them to Hell.

I took a step forward, snorting as they all took a step back in unison, before I launched myself onto the nearest one. I made a point to leave this one alive, as I had need of him, and let the others run off. I held him off the ground by his collar and Growled as menacingly as I could before asking why in the world he had come to burn down _this apartment complex_ in particular. When he answered, it completed the Quest without a reward besides a level in Intimidation and confirmed my suspicions.

Don Monella had found me.

* * *

 **Quest Updated: Down with the Don!**

 **-The Don doesn't like you beating his top enforcer, and will be sending people to make an example of you. "Convince" the Don to remove the Mark on you, one way or another.**

 **Rewards: Removal of "Marked" Status, 2000 exp, and 5 Free Points**

 **Monella Mafia Members and Hires: 198/203.**

* * *

' _That's gonna be a problem, isn't it,_ ' my mind clinically informed me, ' _Better start fixing this before they burn the place down._ ' I waited for a screen, mockingly informing of a good decision once again, but when none came I shrugged and returned to the Complex. I went into my room and gathered anything I could carry, including clothes and busted up toiletry bag, and stuffed at least thirty pounds of stuff into my backpack.

Because I wasn't coming back until this was finished, and I had no experience tracking down crime syndicates, so I imagined that it would be for a little while. I took the time of relative peace, I could hear the Flames of the cocktail finally guttering out through my thin walls, to sit down on my bed and use the last of the Thread I had. I patched up my Jacket, as it was my most important piece of clothing, before running out. I sighed as I trashed the burnt and torn remains of my pants for strips and patches I could use later on and pulled out my last pair of Jeans. I had actually never worn them out, as I had bought them right before the Siege, so the elasticity and springiness of new pants were still there.

I threw the pack over my shoulder and grabbed my Scroll from it's charger, already sliding through the screen to put the thing on emergency mode. Energy had already been scarce when I lived with a generator, but I had a feeling it was about to become even worse for me. I swiftly moved out of my room, closing the door behind me once again despite how useless the gesture was.

I knocked on Tuco's door, knowing full well he had heard me walking up to it, and waited as I heard cursing and things tumbling from inside. When he opened the door he was without a shirt and his flannel bottoms were coloured a magnificent shade of pink. He was wiping the sleep from his eyes, which had been furious until he took in the sight of me packed up.

"Man," He started with a yawn, "It's, like, 5 in the morning. What in the world are you doin' up right now?" he questioned, and the question made me aware that up until two days ago I had slept in until noon for the last month.

"I'm heading out," I answered, deciding that straight-forward would be the best route as usual, "I was just letting you know that the room is open if you need to use it," at his blank look I elaborated, "For the Family you have comin' up."

"Wait, You're leaving?" came a confused and equally sleepy Maria from what I assumed was the couch. I heard her shift to get up, but I knew if she caught a hold of me I wouldn't be leaving until she got every bit of information out of me.

"Yeah, something came up and I gotta go figure it out before it gets worse," I explained hastily as I began moving towards the stairwell, "For any of us."

I heard them both call after me once or twice but I continued moving, determined to set this straight. ' _I ran into that Taylor chick in the Southside, but she moved fast enough for it not to matter,_ ' I tried to reason it out, before coming to an obvious conclusion, ' _But I also have her name and a description, which would be in the City Archives in the Central part of Town. Everyone who was sent here has their records in the system, all I have to do is find her and I'll find a lead._ ' I nodded in confirmation of the thought as I opened the front door to the building. Without thought I exited the notification updating the quest to the new objective, and took off at a healthy Run towards Main street and City Hall.

* * *

I made the fifteen mile journey in under three hours, having gained two more levels in Running as a result, and was moderately happy to find that the central plaza of the city was not only still standing but also mostly uninhabited. I could see the presence of maybe a few bureaucrats or squatters on my Minimap with the help of the Listening Skill, but none of the ones within range of my Detect Bloodlust were marked as hostiles so I ignored them as I made my way towards the City Archives. As I passed by the Small Airport and Post Office that acted as the communications hub I heard the scuffle and shifting of trash or rubble upon the pavement, a very unnatural noise, but I couldn't see them on my Minimap, only a vague circle indicating where the sound came from. I stopped moving and Activated the Skill to Find that there was in fact a cause for the disturbance, two causes in fact that were hiding behind the Dumpster in the Alleyway.

The moment I turned towards them, they fled their spot suddenly as though they knew I was coming for them. Their spots rapidly disappeared off the edge of my detection zone, but the little encounter still left an odd feeling in me. I narrowed my eyes as I stood at the lip of the Alley, before shrugging off the unease and continuing on my way through the early morning sun.

Or whatever bit of the sunshine made it through the smoke cloud over the city.

The doors of the Archive were still on their hinges and the building looked like it had seen the least amount of disturbance I had seen so far. I walked up the large stone stairway that led to them before testing them. I found that they were not locked and simply opened them and moved inside. The atmosphere of the building felt closer to a Library, one that was not currently being run as an emergency center, as my steps echoed through the place in the way that only a nearly empty government built structure could.

Honestly, it felt like the guy in charge of the designing the place had specifically tried to drain the sound and soul of the building and it's employees. The fact that Mount Glenn happened to have been built fairly quickly led to most of the original buildings being built in cookie-cutter fashion, with the each being the same almost down to the organization of rooms. This meant that the Archives were laid out almost the same exact way as my School, and I had a single distinct thought upon realizing this.

' _I_ really _wish I had paid attention in school_.'

The better part of a day was spent tearing the place apart as non-literally as I could manage as I became more and more furious. The first two hours had been spent in the dark basement navigating by Minimap and bruised shins until I had managed to find the old inefficient gasoline powered generator. Another thirty minutes were dedicated to finding the gas, which had been conveniently placed between the generator and the wall, which I only found by _smell_ in the dark. The next two hours were spent trying to gain access to a terminal, but thankfully the Administrator of the second floor was some old coot who kept his information on a sticky note attached to the underside of his monitor. Then I figured out that the terminals only gave directions to where the files were, which listed the Adolescent Females as Room 2C, and only upon spending thirty minutes sifting through the C and T sections of the files did I realize that none of the people in any of the files were Faunus, prompting a groan and a trudge back to the Terminal.

After spending eleven hours smelling of must and Bureaucracy I found the File I had been looking for, the only "Taylor" in the entire Faunus C Section of Room 3B. And as I hesitantly pulled it out I noticed that it was lighter than most of the files I had gone through, making my stomach fall out from beneath me. I looked to the sky as I let it flip open revealing the message I had seen maybe half a dozen times so far.

"Juvenile Record sealed, please contact Child services for access," I read out loud with a groan. I dropped the manila folder, and before it had even hit the ground my right fist had shot forward to connect with the File cabinet in front of me, giving me such a satisfying crunch as the metal warped to better accommodate my fist and the sides flared out as the air inside compressed before exiting through the now much larger seams. If it hadn't been screwed to the ground it would have gone through the wall I was sure, but as it stood I'd have to be satisfied with just destroying it and the drywall behind it.

I took in a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out slowly, in a controlled motion. Then I let my fist uncurl itself and my arm return to my side, as the irritation passed for the acceptance to take hold. ' _Not like I wasn't going there already, but_ God damn _that was irritating_.'

And with a huff I turned around to leave, only to come face to face with someone.

 **Hazel Rainart**

 **Lvl 39 Avenger**

 _ **Blood for Blood**_

A certain someone that was the single most powerful thing I'd had the pleasure, or displeasure, of meeting. The man stood well over a head taller than me, his Skin being the same dark tan that told of many a day under the scorching sun, his eyes burning the same color as his name while he wore a olive drab jacket over a dark shirt and brighter pants. Also, his arms looked to be the same size as both of my legs put together, which was a fact worth noting as I was not a small boy, but compared to him I might as well have been.

Thankfully the expression on his face wasn't threatening, if a little stern, and I could sense no Bloodlust coming from him. "May I help you?" I asked without really meaning to, but thankfully his lip quirked a tiny bit before returning to his stoic countenance.

"I was about to ask you the same, as I heard something that sounded like a gunshot come from in here," he explained as he gestured to the Filing Cabinet, "But it looks like you have it covered."

' _He's making jokes, which is usually a good sign,_ ' I thought as I smiled sheepishly as I made a show of turning to inspect the wrecked box, all the while Actively Listening for anyone else, but found no one else within 70 feet. "Yeah, you could say that. I was pretty close to finding what I was looking for, but it's sealed in another location," I said with a sigh, but instead of asking questions that man nodded as seriously as though I had spilled a national secret to him.

"Is that so? I have had the same troubles in the past, every time I get close to my quarry it would slip away. Yes, a problem indeed," his eyes were far away before he shook himself back to the present, "I'm sure you'll find it, whatever it is. But, I am on a schedule and must be on my way," He then spun lazily on his heel and stepped towards the door before pausing, "...Would you happen to have access to one of the Terminals by chance?"

"Yes," I responded easily as I tightened the straps to my backpack before brushing past him, "Let me show you how before I go, it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it."

And then I gave the man a thirty minute crash course in traversing the terminal and the system, but he was no closer to understanding it than when we started. "Look," I started as the sky began to turn from blue to yellow, "Just tell me what you're looking for and I'll pull the file for you." His eyes cut at me, and while I saw hesitation I also saw understanding that he had no other choice to easily get what he was after.

"If I tell you this, you'll speak to no one of this, are we clear?" He half questioned and half commanded. His eyes bore into the side of my head, but I just waved it off.

"Crystal Clear, now tell me so I can get on the move," and with that he shared the information and I swiftly pulled up the location of the File Labeled **First Contact** , which was in the vault located in the basement. I stood from the chair and pushed past the man, intent on helping him as quickly as possible, and made my way down the two flights of stairs to the Large metal door stood five feet away from the Generator. I moved to the Handles on the door even as Hazel came into the minimap on the Stairwell to the Basement, and Powered up as much as I could before Pulling the Handle.

It groaned in response, the handle turning slightly before the attempt gave out. I bared my teeth and pushed further even as I felt my Hp begin to dip from the Strain. Suddenly the Handle gave a loud metallic screech as the unoiled mechanism finally relented against my effort. After the first quarter turn the Door was much more willing to open, though it did have an odd clicking and scratching noise as it turned.

As it finally swung open I let go and leant against the generator, staring at the Skill and Achievement that had popped during the activity, making up for the time lost with this detour already.

* * *

 **Skill Learned: Adrenaline Rush, Level 1;**

 _ **Feel the Burn!**_

 **Burn Hp to restore Stm, ratio of 16 Hp:1 Stm.**

 **Using over 75% of Health for this skill grants the Status Strain.**

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked: Hands on approach.**

 _ **Try, try again. Punch the thing if it helps. Then try, try again.**_

 **Overcame a Dex based Skill Check with Damage.**

 **Rewards; +5% Str to Atk, + 1 Free Point.**

* * *

But then I stood and walked into the Vault, well aware at how Hazel stood just feet away, obviously waiting for his File. Thankfully the Vault only housed five or six Files, which while relatively large were also prominently labeled. It took all of ten seconds for me to spot **First Contact** and hoist up the large box. I smiled at a job well done as I walked towards Hazel and pushed the File into his chest, which he almost didn't catch. When I noticed he was staring at me kind of weird, I nodded and quickly made my way towards the stairs as he obviously wanted some privacy.

"Hey Kid," came the call from behind me, "What's your name?" he sounded decidedly calm and peaceful so I felt no need to lie to the man.

"I got a lot of names; Asshole, Idiot, a Dead Man to one particularly poetic doofus, but most people just call me Austin," I answered with a shrug, "Which isn't nearly as fun as the others, but what can you do."

And with that I left the man in the basement with the gently rumbling generator and his papers.

* * *

As I ran along the road I kept an eye out for things that caught my interest, and was rewarded with a long coil of Rope from a construction yard, a few cards of Lien from ransacked registers, and a new pair of _sorely needed_ shoes. I spent the night on a properly deserted roof about ten miles away from the Archives, where I had stopped because I kept tripping over shit in the road and instead opted to wait out the night. I decided to watch the streets from the top of a parking garage, snacking, reading the Physics Textbook ( _Chapter 12: Simple Machines_ ), and just Listening into the night. Nothing major happened, beyond a Line skirmish to the West as what I guessed to be another sinkhole opened up and brought more Grimm with it. The Firefight lasted a good hour, but I knew just by the volume of the shots, like stepping on glass, that I would be unable to get there in any time to help, running into obstacles along the way knocking off a good chunk of my speed as well.

As the sun began to filter through the polluted morning sky I launched myself off the roof and continued along them towards the Child Services building that was pinged on my Map. The further south I went the more blips began to appear on my radar and any I got close to immediately turned Hostile, and I assumed that they were Grimm just by the aggrieved Roars I heard in my wake. After two hours I had finally made it to the building, and thankfully it was laid out in the same way as the Archives. My eyebrows furrowed as my Minimap filled in the place with at least a dozen red dots on the first floor, but I shrugged as I had already come across other buildings filled with Grimm and they had never entered the double digits in level.

As I thought back to the smattering of fights I had been a part of and the subsequent destruction they caused and decided to find the files before I dealt with the enemies, though with as much noise as I made it was hard to imagine me doing it quietly. Instead I Jumped to the top of the building, Power Attacked my way through the roof above the Administrators Room and Logged in to the Terminal therein. I heard the enemies downstairs responding to my entrance, but as they were all on the first floor I had enough time to pull up the location of the Sealed files. As they were in the second floor administrators office I broke the Window of the office and hung myself out by my hands, ignoring the shards of glass now embedded in them, and bust my way through the window.

With that I rushed over to the Door and closed it before pulling a chair up and under the lock, as though it would stop a raging monster, but it was all I could think of. With that I began sifting through the File Cabinets in the room as the footsteps and Snorts began to come closer and closer to my position. By the time I had found the Sealed Cabinet they were snuffling at the door, so instead of opening it I grabbed the thing and hurled it out the window into the street below.

With that the Grimm were finally well and fed up with my intrusion, as a particularly large **Level 8 Beowolf** burst through the door. As he lunged towards me with a roar I met him with a Metal File Cabinet thrown with the force of a howitzer, sending him through the thin drywall of the office. I unfurled the Chain around my wrist as Beowolf, juvenile Ursa, and Boarbatusks stared at me through the hole grinning and baring my teeth in response. On some unseen signal they surged forward and I Lunged to meet the closest enemy, an unfortunate **Level 6 Ursa** that received an over hand hammerfist that shattered it's mask.

A pair of Beowolf decided to try and double team me only to be sliced in two by my Weapon, but it was enough of a distraction for a Charging Boarbatusk to Slam into me and carry both of our carcasses down the stairs. As we rolled I Grabbed hold of its tusks with both hands and kicked it in the snout with as much force as I could muster, breaking both of it's tusks in my hands and sending it arcing up and away from the staircase and into the ceiling of the foyer.

I controlled my tumble as best I could, managing to land on my back as opposed to my head, before shooting up to meet a lunging Beowolf from the top of the stairs with an uppercut that decapitated it and left my right hand numb for a few seconds. I grabbed the body before it could decompose and threw it as hard as I could to let it pulp and splatter under the next Charging Boarbatusk, making it lose what little traction it had on the stairs and spin out as it came bouncing painfully down the remaining stairs. I ripped the last Pole from the Banister before Throwing it as Hard as I could as it bounced towards me, earning me a pained roar and deafening silence as it was pinned to the Wall.

I ignored the few Pop-ups that had been accruing and instead began to focus on Listening and watching my Minimap for anymore trouble, glad to see no more hostiles in the area, but I still felt the effect of the odd silence that descended after the brief bout of violence. ' _Something isn't right_ ,' I thought as I tried to place it, ' _...Where is the Gunfire_?' and indeed the almost constant sounds of violence of the Southside had been suddenly muted, leaving me unnerved and slightly bothered by the fact that a lack of gunfire unnerved me.

I made a point to ignore that line of thought as I cautiously walked towards the door, before actively listening as I stood with my hand on the doorknob. Suddenly two blips appeared on my Map as I heard subtle clicks and clacks of metal against metal coming from the rooftops across the street according to my Map, while at least six more were moving slowly towards my position.

I slowly walked over to the nearest window and peaked around the corner for a better look. There were Humans wearing black tactical gear ranging from Level 5 to 8 Hitmen all converging on the door, all looking very professional and stealthy even with pretty large firearms. For a moment I saw nothing but concrete before sunlight reflected off something moving on the roof. Then the wall next to my head exploded and my Hp dropped by about a tenth. The force of the projectile sent me rolling on the floor and I moved with the momentum away from the shooter as the wall began to be torn apart by gunfire. I ignored the shrapnel as the damage wasn't even visible on my HUD and ran down the stairs to the Basement, this one being just as cluttered and dark without the Generator as the one under the Archive. I threw myself behind the Janitorial supplies stored underneath the Stairs and waited for my assailants to come to me.

I Listened to their footsteps as they crossed the threshold of the Building and began fanning out and searching the First floor for, I assumed, me. It was odd enough watching people moving in lock step, but the dots doing so made it very obvious that these people were trained and trained well. I cursed as I realized that I had no idea if they had night-vision or flashlights, but I had taken a high caliber bullet to the head, so I had an excuse.

If they did then I was probably in a rough situation, but I was fairly certain that I had a major tactical advantage just with my Minimap. If I had to I'd isolate them one at a time to get out of this, because I had no intention of dying in the basement of a government building. ' _Then again, Nan always said that Bureaucracy would be the death of her. Maybe it would be fitting,_ ' I thought morbidly as the group of six split up, three going up at the stairs and three going down.

I smirked as I heard them quietly move down the stairs above me, ' _I wonder if that means that their competent enough to take me out with only three or that I am being underestimated?_ ' Their flashlights swept about the room, illuminating the veritable maze of paperwork and outdated machinery. I watched them as they moved about, the Level 5 and Level 6 walking much less confidently than the strongest of the group.

 **?**

 **Level 9 Hitman**

 _ **Violent Drunk**_

' _I should deal with the small fry first,_ ' I decided as I narrowed my eyes at the Hitman, ' _So far anything with the secondary descriptor has been troublesome. Team STRQ included._ ' I waited until they were all off the stairs to deal with them, placing myself between them and the exit. And then with a Lunge I drove the Level five to the Floor with a swipe of my hand, feeling vindicated as they dropped their assault rifle and their body bounced off the floor.

And even as their comrades whirled about I was already Lunging for the Level 6, slamming him through a shelf with a savage kick to the Chest, before turning towards the obviously more dangerous one of the trio, and swinging my chain down at their head.

It swung high as he stepped into the swing kicked the side of my knee before dancing out from underneath my attempt at a Counter attack, dropping his weapon and flashlight in the process. He hopped lightly from foot to foot and kept his arms loose but ready as he seemingly bounced in place before the light hit the ground and he moved forward to strike.

' _He's quick,_ ' I thought as I blocked his flurry of kicks, ' _and much harder to predict than Taylor was,_ ' I hopped backwards to avoid a stomp kick that sent a flashlight spinning away, giving the fight a sporadic rave like Lighting. I surged forward, intent on stealing the control of the fight back, but he just flowed and slid out from under all of my blows, leaving me open to his precise and quite powerful counters. I snarled as he continued to silently try and deconstruct me and rushed forward in a tackle with my arms wide. I was not ready for him to jump up and on top of my head, from where he put a half dozen vicious knee strikes into my back.

I grabbed his arms, which were firmly wrapped around my neck, before Powering up every bit of Stamina I had left and a bit of health just to get the point across and Slamming my Head back and pulling his arms in opposition. I heard a loud _Crack_ and a groan as he went limp in my arms, so I dropped him and moved through the debris to finish the other two, but they were well past fighting back so I left them be, even though their dots on the map stayed red indicating they were still sending me death-glares under their masks.

They could eat shit for all I cared, as I was almost down to a quarter of my health from being kicked nearly to death, that they still drew breath could be considered a miracle. Mostly because the rest of their posse wasn't getting the kindness, I was much too tired for mercy.

I stood over the Raggedly breathing Hitman I had just fought, noting that he now had a name but unable to care about it, before deciding to leave the poor attempt at an interrogation for after I had dealt with the other half of my pursuers. I noticed that the Assault rifle of the Level five was right next to him, but sighed when I realized that it probably ran off of Dex as the damage incurred was based on where it was aimed. I shrugged and picked it up anyways, before moving to the other bodies in the basement to strip them of ammunition or anything else that could be used even by a man half dead, and stop back under the stairs for a few quick acquisitions.

I came away with seven banana clips for the Assault rifle and a service Pistol from the Head Honcho. I calmly walked up the stairs and opened the door to the basement, well aware that the rest were coming for me. I calmed myself as I quickly popped each of the bullets out of the clips until a mound was formed poured a cleaning fluid very clearly labelled flammable upon the pile of bullets, and various other chemicals also marked as flammable, to the right of the last stair of the staircase before walking through the door of the nearest office, finally out of liquid, and sitting down a few feet from the puddle of greenish blue liquid. On my map, the dots were just reaching the second floor so I dug out the second thing I had grabbed from the Supply closet, a box of Fire Dust Matches that had been right next to a box of candles.

As they quickly and no longer quietly came down the stairs I began sparking matches, managing to get it on the fifth try, and after placing the rest of the matches in my hoodie pocket lit the box on fire and threw it into the puddle. The puddle immediately went up in flames and it only took seconds for it to reach what was obviously my pile of ammunition because it erupted into a cacophony of gunfire and general mayhem as the walls shook and the dots on my minimap fell to four, two dead and one unconscious.

As soon as the one fell unconscious the sound of the city came back in full volume, the sporadic bursts of gunfire an odd source of comfort, and it made it pretty obvious that it had not been a natural silence. I walked out of the office to survey my handiwork, finding the foyer and anything not shielded by wall charred with soot with some small fires still raging on the concrete. I clinically observed the two bodies that had been ragdolled by the explosion, one more whole than the other, and decided that there was nothing salvageable on them. The unconscious one's arm seemed to burnt very badly and her broken rifle of some model laid near her obviously unusable, but I still kicked it aside and quickly relieved her of any pistol ammunition she was carrying, as I was taking one with me as a good back up plan and extra range.

I nodded at my own slice of carnage before spinning on my heel and walking towards the front door, which I kicked off its hinges and launched myself towards where I had seen the Glint before. I heard a terrified squawk from underneath me as I came out of my uncontrolled flip and I crashed down on top of a man holding a rifle as long as he was laid down. I placed the newly acquired pistol at the base of his neck and put four shots there, confident that it would keep him down. I heard the other Sniper scrambling in a panic to get off the roof so I flicked my chain out to it's full length as I Launched myself towards him.

He didn't make it out in one piece.

I sighed as I stood over him, and after no new hostiles pinged on my Map I returned with a leap to the Child Services building to interrogate my newest sources of information.

* * *

I wiped my hands off on my new pair of Tactical black cargo pants, grunting as I walked through what remained of the Front Door, pleasantly surprised to find the Hitmen much more willing with information than my previous attempt would have suggested, but I guess when you are bleeding out and only under obligation of money to not squeal you are a little pliable.

In fact Marcus the Mercenary had painted a very clear picture for me, laying out every detail of the Syndicates operations as he could remember in exchange for using First aid on his wife.

I shrugged, because in the end I still Levelled up my Intimidation from it, among the various other Skills. I was glad that after ten notifications regarding skills levelling up it compiled them in one page for me to read, but that still meant I had about fifteen pages to go through unrelated to Skill Levels.

* * *

 **Skills Levelled!**

 **Power Jump + 3**

 **Lunge + 1**

 **Power Attack + 2**

 **Mitigation + 1**

 **Brawling! +4**

 **Chain Mastery + 2**

 **Blocking + 1**

 **Adrenaline Rush + 1**

 **Listening + 1**

 **Detect Bloodlust + 3**

 **Intimidation + 1**

* * *

 **Skill Learned: Grapple, Level 2;**

 _ **You're mine now, I've literally got you by the Balls!**_

 **Deal 95% less damage than a normal attack, but inflict Grappled Status upon foe.**

* * *

 **Skill Learned: Explosives Mastery, Level 4;**

 _ **I actually wanted to be a Florist, ya know.**_

 **+20% Atk when using explosives.**

 **+20% time when disabling an explosive.**

* * *

 **Skill Learned: Pistol Mastery, Level 2;**

 _ **The gun of Protagonists and Trash Enemies worldwide, I wonder which one you are?**_

 **+10% Atk With a pistol.**

 **+20% Critical Damage with a Pistol.**

* * *

 **Skill Branched: Power Throw;**

 _ **Kobe for accuracy, Yeet for Power. YEET!**_

 **Thrown projectiles now have 50% of the Power Attack benefit.**

* * *

 **A Skill has reached Max Level! Listening can be enhanced to Tier 2!**

 _ **Enhancing a Skill is optional but highly recommended, costs a Free Point and doubles the price per Tier. Higher Tier Skills progress much slower than their Lower Tier Counterparts, but offer great benefits in return.**_

 **Choose from the Following Quirks;**

 **-Listening (Tier 1.2); The skill stays the same and progresses at the same rate as a Tier 1 Skill.**

 **-Instinct (Tier 2); Detection Method Added: Smell/Taste.**

 _ **Hints of Raspberry Jam and Violence.**_

 **As you begin to lean on your less developed senses your body responds.**

 **Range reset to Ten Feet and Passive Detection down to a Base of Ten Percent, but they increase Twice as Fast. Allows for the Detection of Cloaked targets.**

 **-Ear of God (Tier 2.5);**

 _ **Horton hears a who.**_

 **Listening Skill is lost in return for the Ear of God Attribute, the passive ability to use your Active Range.**

 **-?**

 **-?**

* * *

I smiled at the screens as they came up, the benefits my skills were receiving slowing down comparatively to how close I came to dying, but I wasn't complaining really. Progress was still progress at the end of the day. I casually hopped up onto a nearby rooftop to rest and actually spend time thinking about the decisions I was making for once. I ignored the noises of the city and the constant smell of smoke as I stared intently at the options laid before me.

' _On one hand I could become a walking sonar and never have anyone sneak up on me,_ ' I considered in my Thinking pose of crossed legs and my head resting on my fist, ' _But Listening is limited to real time detection. If I relied on it I'd kind of be stuck with reacting to action instead of presence, which Smell would cover. I should probably choose_ _ **Instinct**_ _for better coverage._ ' I also had no idea if Smelling was a skill by itself, as it was hardly useful in any meaningful way, so this was probably the only way to unlock it's useful side. Nodding in confirmation I dragged to the left to deal with later as I went through the rest of the Screens that had popped.

* * *

 **Achievements Unlocked:**

 **-Breaker:**

 _ **I don't, ah, don't speak sign language though. Just Fisticuffs.**_

 **Deal 5000 Physical Damage.**

 **Rewards; +5% Base Attack Damage, Splash Skill, and + 1 Free Point.**

 **-Sturdy;**

 _ **I can take a few hits.**_

 **Receive 5000 base Damage.**

 **Rewards; + 5% Hp, + 10% Hp Regen, the ? Skill, and + 1 Free Point.**

 **-Splash, Level 1;**

 _ **Splish, Splash, I was takin' a bath.**_

 **Physical Attacks now have an increased area of effect.**

 **Area of impact increased by a 1.05 Modifier.**

 **-? Skill will be awarded at a later time, once necessary mechanics unlocked.**

* * *

 **Quest Updated: Down with the Don!**

 **-Bonus Objective Unlocked: Disrupt the Don!**

 **-An organization like the Syndicate must feed and equip their people, but if he can't they may do the job for you.**

 **Rewards: Removal of "Marked" Status, 2000 exp, and 5 Free Points.**

 **Bonuses: 1 Free Point per Supply Cache disrupted.**

 **Monella Mafia Members and Hires: 190/203.**

* * *

A Malicious smirk slowly formed on my face as the Quest updated, as though it were reading my mind. "If you're gonna try and Kill me, you better do a damn good job," I growled lowly to myself as I closed out of the various tabs, "Because I've been known to make a mess of things."

The last Screen that came up informed me that I had been awarded just under a thousand experience for my fights, which I thought would have been worse without the boosts to skills. I shrugged before unholstering the Pistol I had taken from the Holster on my right hip. ' _Tactical Ass Pants for the win,_ ' I thought with a raspy laugh. I began to look it over, and it seemed Mastery over a weapon conferred more than knowledge on it's uses but also on its maintenance and composition. I found that it was almost entirely made with out of stainless steel, save for the Rounded Gip, and that it was balanced a little heavily towards the front, indicating a higher velocity of bullet, probably for a rechambering in this case as the model was fairly small to be shooting the .45 Caliber that it was. In a matter of moments I had carefully run basic diagnostics on it, basically firing at a trash can from the roof, and found that the recoil was negligible and their seemed to be no catches in the slide.

It had been well maintained before I had claimed it as my price from Marcus, but I made a Silent Promise to keep it up to the same standards. It had no detailing done on it, but the Scratches that were scored along the right side of the barrel were distinctive and obviously an old battlescar. I smiled at it, deciding that it would be staying with me as my Ranged Option as even at 50 yards it was still fairly accurate.

I holstered the Unnamed Pistol as my other hand dismissed the last of the notifications and selected **Instinct** as the Enhancement. And suddenly, every smell known to me filled my senses and left me coughing and sputtering as I tried to adjust. A minute or two of wheezing and hacking later I had finally gotten it back under my control, simply by focusing on the exact opposite compulsion that went along with activating a Skill, repressing the amount of information flooding my head. As Dusk slowly crept towards another Ashen Night I sat there and slowly ratcheted up **Instinct** until I could handle the Full brunt of the Skill.

Then I used it to Lead me to the nearest source of Food.

' _This shit makes me Hungry as Hell,_ ' I thought with a Grumble, ' _I have Stamina and Health for as far as the eye can see but goddammit if it doesn't help with base physical needs._ '

And then I was off Running, Hopping, and Sniffing through the Night.

* * *

 _End of Chapter 4_

* * *

 **Austin**

 **Class: Protector:**

 **Lvl 11: 915/1100 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 8712/8712, HP Regen: 43 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 720/720, Stm Regen: 20 Stm/Sec**

 **Str: (54) 56**

 **Dex: 17**

 **Con: (70) 72**

 **Agi: 6**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 44**

 **Free Points; 2.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 210**

 **Max Power Attack Damage (Stamina Only): 1266**

 **Pistol Atk: 138**

 **Def: Phys; 32%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **Iron Will; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. Cripple; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **?; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the** _ **?**_ **Skill.** _ **Inherited from ?.**_

 **?; ?**

 **Relentless; Immune to Fatigue. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through ?.**_

 **Self-Respect; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **Marked; +500 Renown, 15% chance to encounter a Hitman when entering or exiting an area.**

 **Regenerator;** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent.**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **Enduring;** _**I can still fight.**_ **.**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

* * *

 _I wanted to point out why the character is kind of rushing through this as it were, because this is a parody of how I play games. I find myself skipping cutscenes and tutorials that would surely help only to rage when I find them three quarters of the way through a game. I find myself Min-maxing hard enough to fight Mobs easily twice my level while simultaneously unable to navigate a simple speech check without chugging Potions or casting spells. It's actually a playstyle that was adopted from having an extremely harsh Dungeon Master when I started playing DnD oh so long ago._

 _Nothing survived that man unless it was broken as hell._ _ **Nothing.**_

 _Anyways, this story may as well be a love letter to the playstyle that I have seen in many a player myself for many a different reason. It also may as well be an accusation for stealing all the nuances of many hard roleplaying games that demand high intelligence or Charisma to get all the juicy details because I have been wired to play like a moron._

 _Also, for those of you who find this piece of crap interesting, I'd like to let you in on a little detail. I used an RNG for the Attributes of the Character as well as had a coin toss for the Class choice. It was between Big Game Hunter and Protector._

 _I also have done all of the Stats for every enemy so far, and a few of the NPC's as well. An important thing to point out for them is that since they have no access to the Game the System estimates Levels, Classes, and Titles based on their Stats and Skills. So if an NPC levels up it simply means their stats grew in accordance._

 _For the Curious Reader, there are hints to one of the Locked Attributes throughout the story and Author's Note from Last Chapter if you look hard enough._

 _Oh, and if anyone has any suggestions for NPCs please feel free to Message me about it._

 _My piece has been said, Jericho Out._


	5. Interludes and Intermission 1

_Interlude A_

* * *

"Boss!" A portly man stopped his habitual rubbing of his ring, instead opting to turn his beady gaze from the Terminal on his desk. Two of his Highest ranking enforcers, almost as good at their jobs as Chesterton had been before her _incident_ , but they came with a little more collateral than he liked, and they were prone to rush into things without thinking it through. They may have been blood, but eventually everybody has to learn to walk on their own.

The two sturdy Enforcers stopped in front of his desk, waiting for his acknowledgement to continue with whatever they had to say, just as he told them to. He made a show of laconically taking a seat in his rather oversized Leather chair and leaning forward onto his elbows. "Proceed, Michael," He had to stomp down on the vicious smile that tried to creep onto his face as he used his underlings first name and saw the discomfort crawl across it.

' _At least he knows his place,_ ' Thought Don Marco Monella with an internal sneer, ' _Under my boot._ '

"We did as you asked, Boss," Mikey responded, the younger and obviously more nervous of the two brothers, "But the only people left at the Child Services Building were the bodies of some of the people we sent." He finished as his brother audibly gulped as sweat began to show on their foreheads. "We asked some of our informants in the area what happened, but none of them junkies squatting in the area didn't hear anything, Boss."

Don Monella knew that the lackeys in front of him could probably snap him like a twig, but it was in his best interest to look invincible to any in his employ. He had gone so far as to covertly replacing bulletproof glass with Sugar-glass and throwing the next employee to displease him through it and watch them fall the eight stories to the road below, ensuring that the show had not been missed by his more competent employees. Following a tip his grandmother had given him before she passed he had taken to wearing brass knuckles under his black leather gloves to give him a more resounding backhand when he had to discipline one of the brainless _monsters_ under his employ. If _they_ were scared of him they would instill the feeling in the rest of the Lackeys.

So he knew that the people in front of him saw his as a strong man, saw him as a man prone to violent rage, and he knew why they were scared.

But for the life of him, he couldn't find anything inside him to be angry. There was no burning rage, no urge to scream and throw furniture in a show to solidify his reign, to make those under him remember why they followed him instead of the next rich guy on the list, or to make a show of aggression towards the man in question.

Instead, his mouth was dry and there was a hollow feeling in his chest. If he had been standing his legs may have shook or given out under him, because his top team of _killers_ had been beaten by this meteoric new threat to his position. And they were killers, not monsters like some of the others in the building.

They were who he sent to clean up messy situations, and in the two years he had been employing Marcus and Tilliana Black and their nameless minions, they hadn't failed him a single time. Marcus was a monster of a man in close combat that could also think, _which was dangerous_ , reined in only by the much calmer Tilliana who covered their operations in a blanket of maddening Silence. Everything that was within range of her hearing would be snuffed out by her semblance, and it was known to bring people to their knees after prolonged exposure.

And this lone man that had taken down his Top enforcer, a prodigy in and of herself though inexperienced and rash, had managed not only to rebuff them but to also leave behind bodies and destruction in his wake. And to think that he had thought the Team was _overkill_ when Taylor had asked that they be sent in.

So, there was no rage or anger in him, only terror. He hid the shaking in his hands by bringing them up and lacing them before his face, trying his utmost to look calm as he stared purposefully at nothing. "Did any of them see where he had gone?" He asked as calmly as he could manage.

Mikey shared a worried look with his brother before answering, "The only one that saw anything thought he saw him head West, towards the Industrial District."

Don Monella sighed theatrically, internally melting in relief that the new Monster had chosen to not come south, towards _him._ Though it meant forfeiting the operations to the west, he felt the preparation time was worth it, though at the speed that this _monster_ was destroying his Life's Work it might not make too much of a difference.

"Boss, You gotta hear this," interrupted the oddly serious voice of his top Enforcer along with the tapping of a crutch, "One of the guys in The Shipping Front just called in a massive hit, somebody matching _his_ description just smashed down the front door and was tearing the place apart," Taylor finished as she began trying to readjust herself on her crutch, most likely annoyed at being brought of active patrols, "Permission to head out and tear him a new one, Boss?"

"Denied," He responded without thought, "Even I could move faster than you, Kid. I'll be sending these two out to put him down," Or at least stall long enough for him prepare, "And I do expect you to succeed, or I will be very, _very angry_ ," he ended in a forceful growl that sent the brother's scurrying away with a hasty " _Yes Boss!"_ thrown over their shoulder. His eyes swept back to Taylor, who looked downright mutinous at the thought of taking her rematch from her.

"Now, before you try and rip my head off and just injure yourself more," ' _With my corpse, most likely_ ,' "I need you to organize the guys around here for when he gets here," at that her face morphed to a far more receptive expression, and He decided to put some pressure on her to get the point across, "And don't think I forgot whose failure brought this upon us. I thought I taught you how to pick marks better than this."

At this she actually got angry, instead of the embarrassed or cowed that he had expected, "I'd had him marked for months. He seemed like the perfect target, he was a loner without any friends so there wasn't any real worry of him bringin' a bigger fish down on us. I even had an ear in the building, and word was that he didn't leave his apartment, because he was scared of the outside world! How in the hell was I supposed to know that this dweeb was capable of thrashing the best fighters in the Syndicate!" she finally realized her position while Marco sifted through her statements and found no faults in the logic, but she apparently saw his thoughtful face as his angry face and backpedalled, "Uh, not includin' you of course, Boss."

He snorted and Waved her away, content with the information that she had provided.

"He'll be coming for you," came a calm and serious voice from his left, "Should be pretty obvious, but he's coming. I don't know if we can stop him, if what the reports are sayin' is to be believed," His son, Sal, reclined in a chair as he methodically looked through his Scroll, "He's doing quite a number on the places he's hit. He's got the rest of the Syndicate whipped up into a frenzy, got em scared."

What went unsaid that it was no longer the Don that was doing that, that the main factor holding together the Syndicate was in jeopardy, as was his seat of Power.

"I don't remember asking you, _son_ ," came his response, not even bothering to look at his spawn, a young man with a large well of strength and more than a few years of training under his belt, though the Don regretted it as the experience and training had brought a sickening amount of Empathy with it. Entirely at odds with the Family Business. "I remember _telling_ you to rest and plan for how to beat him, not offer whatever insights you might have had."

An irritated snort erupted as the room once more fell into silence, but with it came the Fear. And the realization that it had been years since it had been in his Head. He went back to plotting out his Escape Strategy, just in case his worthless son was correct after all.

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

An almighty _thump_ resounded throughout the subdued building as another load of food was dropped off in the Pantry, and the temporary residents of the Community Shelter smiled or offered thanks to the four Hunters-In-Training that walked out of the Pantry afterwards. A blushing and frantic Summer tried to wave off their attempts at thanks, but only got pulled into what was considered a celebratory feast instead. Qrow was unwilling to let their leader be embarrassed to death and followed the crowd towards the refitted Conference room that was being used as a communal eating area. Taiyang openly laughed as the grateful children of the Community Shelter began to circle around him and begin playing, pulling, and asking him questions about the day or being a Hunter.

Raven instead scoffed at the three wasting time and quickly stepped towards the door of the place, intent on leaving it behind to finish off the multiple dens of Grimm they had chosen to forego to make it back before Dusk. Instead she found herself narrowing her eyes as two massive and familiar Auras were honing in on her positions, so she flared hers in response. Almost instantly they stopped moving as fast, though still faster than Summer on her best day. Raven calmly walked out the doors, ignoring the Happiness and joy that suffused the building to meet with her visitors.

She spent the minute it took for them to get to her inspecting her sword and scabbard, a habit she never saw the point in getting rid of as it only served to leave her with a better grasp on her weapon, and swiftly sheathed the weapon as Two figures fell from the rooftops in front of her. As her eyes met the greens of her Visitors, an inkling of some hidden instinct in the back of her head ringing a warning bell before leaving, and she nodded respectfully at her Combat Teachers, though noticeably less respectfully towards the latter.

"Miss Branwen," Began the ever calm and confident Ozpin, who even as he stood in the middle of a city on the brink of destruction looked remarkably composed, which once again began to trip the alarms in the back of her head before they faded out once more, "I was unaware that you or your team were on the Mount," The sentence had the structure of a statement, but the arched eyebrow and the emphasis made it obvious the man was asking a question. "I believe you were on a Mission a few hours away from here. With Professor Colton, if I'm recalling correctly," which he invariably had. He always had, even down to the word of a detention slip she had refused to attend.

"Yes, Well," Raven let her eyes look up into the sky as though divine intervention would save her from the situation. She hadn't known why they were here, but she had assumed that it was better than dealing with _children_. And her prediction still held true, though it was slipping by the moment.

"Oh come now, Ozpin," Came the bombastic Third voice in the conversation, a remarkably Large and Imposing man with a shock of brown hair that was wild and a moustache and eyebrows that put mops to shame. He looked as though he had painted on a buttoned shirt under his green suspenders as his muscles struggled to be released, and the Blunderbuss Axe hybrid looked far too awkward to be used to any efficiency because of it's relatively short Handle and Massive weight, though the man managed to casually gesture with the weapon that weighed _at least_ four hundred pounds with one hand and did so towards her. "The Young Lady is obviously just eager to become the Huntress she will obviously be. Isn't that right, Raven?" The Instructor finished as he hooked a thumb under his suspender.

"It's Qrow's Fault, Professor Ozpin," She Monotonously responded as she employed the only tried and true tactic for combating the man in front of her, ignoring Professor Port as best she could. Honestly, if he hadn't been the monster that he was in a fight she would have openly spat in his moustache on several occasions just to watch him squirm.

"Ah," Ozpin nodded in understanding, his quickly-graying, Salt and Pepper hairdo bobbing with the action, "That would explain it," She barely dignified that with a snort in agreement, "But do forgive me if I don't take kindly to you and your team abandoning your Chaperone because one of you ran off."

"He abandoned us for the young Innkeeper the first night of the quest, and I haven't seen him since," and she was grateful to be honest as the young Crafts Teacher was a Horrible influence on Tai and Qrow as well as just a tad too _concerned_ for Summer for Raven's liking.

"Once again, that would explain it," he responded with a shake of his head as he began to lean on his sheathed Cane-Sword, "I swear, if I were in charge half of the staff would be fired. Of course you would still be there, Peter, you're just such an inspiring figure for the students," he spoke without even changing the bland tone of voice or looking at the suddenly frightened and then ecstatic Professor who jumped off into the night, most likely to deal with the Dens of Grimm in the area in his joy, ' _there goes my entertainment for the night_ ,' she thought exasperatedly as Ozpin quirked a half smile at her and winked. The Suave image was marred by the Elated whoop and frightened roars from behind him, but he seemed more amused than anything.

"Now, Miss Branwen, why don't we take a walk and we can discuss your mission and time in the City," and once again she felt that the way it was worded was against the implication, a question intending no answer.

But Raven walked beside him anyways and described to him the three days that she had traveling towards and inside the Mount. And Ozpin listened closely as they walked, as he always did, only stopping her when she got to the only other person doing what they were in the City. "You met another Hunter in the City?" He asked in thinly veiled consternation.

"Well, that was the odd part about him," she said as she picked her way around the rubble in the street, "He looked fairly average, about my height, a little stockier than Tai, with Grey hair a little lighter than yours, Sir. But I wouldn't have pegged him for a Huntsman if he hadn't have been doing something obviously outside of the range of normal."

"Was he Dangerous?" Ozpin asked cautiously and with concern.

"He wouldn't be a Huntsman if he wasn't Dangerous, but he made no hostile action towards us. No, he came to a Shelter with about a hundred and fifty pounds of food without breaking a sweat and just walks past the entire team as though people walking around with weapons is normal, though with the state of the city it may well be, and casually almost gives the Leader there a heart attack twice, once with the amount of food and the next when he tells her that he fought a den of Beowolfs to get it."

"So he was a freelance Huntsman, what was so odd about him?"

Raven sighed as she tried to rationalize what she was about to say, but she had felt it with her own Aura sense, "His Aura is, _was,_ still Locked."

Ozpin physically stilled midstep before blinking and frowning and catching up to her, "No chance you simply didn't sense it?" When she shook her head, he narrowed his eyes in confusion, "And he was fighting Grimm, and Winning, without it?"

She nodded silently, remembering the utterly destroyed state of his clothes and seeing people cleaning up the blood he had accidentally tracked into the place. "And it looked like he was a Brawler like Tai, and it was pretty obvious he had gotten into close combat with them as opposed to outsmarting them like you hear about every once in a while. This wasn't someone taking potshots or getting lucky, it seemed like he just beat them to death."

And then Raven was given a treat, as for the first time since she had known him Ozpin lost his cool. He eyebrows were furrowed, and he looked immensely older than she knew he was with eyes that looked lost for seconds before he came back to his senses with a near silent, "Well shit," before he whipped out his phone and began to write a message.

"Raven, I suggest you and your Team Leave the City before Sunday. I have gotten word that that is when the Tunnels will be sealed, and You will find it hard to leave and return to Vale afterwards," and he looked up from his Scroll to meet hers in the night, "And I don't need to mention that no one but your team is to know this, correct?" At her reluctant shake of the Head he smiled a much older smile and Swiftly Launched himself into the air and away into the night.

Raven returned to the Community Shelter, well aware that she would be forced to entertain touchy _children_ , but found herself unable to shake the odd feeling that filled her as she remembered mannerisms and Behaviors that Austin had Displayed; the detached manner in which he answered questions that would have normally provoked anger, the way he looked through people without seeing them, and the way he moved his hands as he talked to people, as though waving at them without meaning to.

And she could only wonder why she recognized some of them when talking to her Combat Teacher.

* * *

 _Interlude C_

* * *

Janette watched the young Orphan Girl calmly reading and taking notes in her office as her Radio finally laid dormant for a moment or two. Ashley had been nothing short of well behaved and polite, but she felt that there was an underlying cold to her voice, an icy feeling that just refused to go away. Janette had only heard it once before in her Daughter's voice, the night that she had come to tell her that she was marrying someone, someone that her Husband had despised since they had met many years before.

In her Daughter it had been a sign that she was willing to turn her back on her Father, and potentially Janette if she disagreed with her, to do what she thought necessary or good. In a girl of this age, the tone of voice saddened her as she thought of what had caused it. The young man who had saved her told Janette of how he had found her, of what she had claimed her mother had told her, and of her promise to her Mother's Corpse. And so far Janette was unable to ascertain what could be done to draw her from the isolation that kept her in the Office as opposed to out playing or interacting with the other kids.

And as her radio blared back to life and she was once again on the clock, she once again wondered why the young girl had chosen to study the _Grimm_ of all things with such Fervor. And she made a note to try and reach out to the last person she connected with when she found the time, maybe send the Hunters in Training after him, just to understand the quiet young lady and her state of mind.

* * *

Interlude D

* * *

 _The world was Pain, and I was sure that my head was going to explode with each pounding heartbeat, but I continued to pull myself forward. In all of the short... six? I was six. In the six years of my life I couldn't remember a pain like this, but it would have to be ignored as best I could, as would the tears it brought. I couldn't remember how long I had been Crawling, but I could hardly recognise the skin of the limbs that clawed at the Dirt._

 _They were almost Black to my sight._

 _My head lolled as I once again pulled it from the ground to take a deep breath, the chilly air like swallowing a handful of Glass shards to my Throat. My left leg was finally beginning to respond to me, though it was a pitiful twitch of the foot that had been sprained in my mad dash to escape, which had felt like a different kind of eternity filled with hoarse lungs and frightening white masks parading through the night as scenes from my nightmares had erupted around me._

 _I don't remember how I had gotten away, but I had woken up on the Beach alone and dying without a memory to call mine._

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

 **Level Up + 2!**

* * *

My eyes stared down in confusion at the Two young men now in a groaning heap at my feet, Named Michael and Raphael, wondering where the pair had come from and why they had thought it a good idea to jump into the burning warehouse, but more importantly why the Game had declared this my fault. I had been pushed over the edge of my eleventh Level up and then again into my thirteenth level for this act, and the tiny episode left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

It had all been going well up until that point, too. I was outside the building, pushing in the Walls of the Building while keeping an eye on the Minimap to watch for any slippery customers that escaped, but much like the other Caches there were none. I felt my passive regeneration dealing with the heat and burns slowly ticking away at my health while I Pushed major portions of my health into an Adrenaline Fueled Power Attack to collapse the structure, when it finally gave. A vicious smile came to my face as the wall began to wobble underneath my Hands, but it quickly became a frown as two Dots quickly entered the Flaming Pyre, and like that my fun night of arson and Vigilantism came to a crashing halt.

' _I wouldn't have guessed that Levelling up would have been so easy if I went after innocents, or they happened into the line of fire, but That is not how this Game shall be Played,_ ' I Decided internally as I patched both of the **Level 10 Ruffian** s up with First Aid as I was unwilling to move onto my next target without attempting to help them, ' _I don't care how easy it makes getting stronger, makes_ Surviving _, if it ain't right I ain't doin' it,_ ' Because my life wasn't worth more than anyone else's.

Once they were stabilized I stood back up to survey my handiwork, frowning at the spreading fire now trying to get onto the surrounding buildings. If those two hadn't gotten in trouble it would have been just as easily contained as the last four destroyed buildings of the night, now simply burning piles of Wood and metal creating pillars of smoke that went up into the night sky. Honestly, I was surprised that the two even survived the flaming wall of the warehouse falling on them long enough for me to pull them out. I had dealt with just as I had the others, Power Jumping to the top of the building and pouring a few gallons of gasoline out after Rending the Metal of the doors closed to prevent any of the Don's Minions from escaping.

Because while Innocents were off limits, assholes like the ones now buried in rubble had made my life a living hell all through childhood; fueling the destructions of families across the Mount with Drugs, Openly killing those that opposed them in drivebys, and having their Kids follow suit and messing with me all throughout my schooling years. It was only a small relief when I had to quit school halfway through the last year to fend for myself, because even at sixteen and a half I was sure that the torture wasn't worth it. Tuco had been sympathetic if exasperated with the stories I told him, assuring me that he would have left too, but only after draining all of their bank accounts.

So I smiled as the burning building fell in on itself, sending a plume of ash and cinders out and up with a mighty crash. I dragged the two civilians, who were fairly large of build and hefty of weight, to the curb and bowed to them while hoping for their speedy recovery before straightening and leaping off to deal this Quest once and for all.

I cleared out the numerous notifications of the night, mostly Skill level ups that had accrued with the **Cherry Bomber** achievement granting a bonus to Explosives Damage and a Free Point and The Skill Branch **Rend** with a congratulations on knocking down walls well, before pulling up my **Status** and dumping my Free points wear I thought them necessary, deciding upon a simple Paradigm to help with the Process; for every ten Free Points Gained place Four in Con, Three in Str, Two in Res, and One in Dex, basically to mirror my Level up benefits for those stats. It had actually been the deciding factor for choosing the **Protector** Class to begin with, the Stats gained every Level were the exact Build I had been planning on going in the first place, so my points were going to be spent furthering that goal.

I felt the Difference almost immediately, as I had to reign in my Jump by a few feet to avoid clearing the next building, but avoided actually thinking on it as I thought about my plan. I had been concocting it all night, as I found the Building that was Don Monella's seat of Authority on my map and upon seeing that it was a twelve story tall high-rise discarded burning the Fucker to the Ground, too much Collateral that way. Which left my preferred method of Fists' Flyin', as I had yet to encounter anything hostile that could actually survive my onslaught and I had a feeling that not much this side of the city could put me down for a Major amount of Time.

But that might change if how tattered the Chain around my arm was looking. The links were beginning to separate and give under the sizable heaping of stress I had been placing upon it, and while it had held up admirably, it wasn't made for Combat and I now needed a new Weapon. As I was currently en route to a combat situation I would need to pick up another Chain to replace it, as I would have to wait until afterwards to try and train up any skill related to a different type of weapon, so I kept an eye out for Hardware shops and Construction sites, but I ended finding an overturned military vehicle with a winch on the front bumper.

I landed in front of the torn up convoy, utterly ignoring the metal slashed and pocked with bullet holes, to pull out a length of a little over twenty feet of it before Rending a link apart with my hands. I bent the connecting side in and maneuvered the other side into a Hook shape, managing it just as I ran out of Stamina, before hooking a small loop around my wrist and wrapping it snuggly around my arm, forming a defensive matrix a foot and a half long on my forearm. I created the same hook on the other end of the Chain and used it as a clasp to keep it locked onto my arm, as well as turning the end into a fairly wicked tool to Rip and Tear into enemies.

* * *

 **Square-Hardened Link Chain:**

 **Base Dmg; 34.**

 **Str required to Wield; 47.**

* * *

I smiled at the newly found Weapon and the sizable increase in Damage, and was thoroughly unsurprised to find that it had Strength requirement as it weighed about fifty pounds on my arm. No one would think about using this thing as a weapon, but I knew how to use it and here I stood. Fighting the Mafia with a Chain pulled off of a military vehicle, ' _An odd situation for an odd man in an even odder World,_ ' I thought as I began to stretch as my Stamina came back to me.

But that had always been the way my life had worked, I had been shunted from bad situation to slightly better situation all of my days.

But the Horrible situations hadn't stuck and I had always moved on, content to never revisit the places again. And now it felt like I had to actively chase them to avoid even worse ones, and it left me angry.

I _hated_ being forced to do anything.

And Now I was heading towards what was most likely the most heavily fortified civilian building in the City, if the state I had found the Warehouses in was any indication. And while I knew that I had the potential to do it, I had never been the best at executing plans, which was why I planned in such simple terms. "Keep it simple, Stupid" had served me well for the length of my life, and I found no reason to condemn it now.

If I'm honest, my greatest asset on this quest was the fact that I could set the pace. And as the pace had been blistering and hard to respond in time to, I had crippled my enemy before even meeting him. I was well aware that he knew I was coming, but I don't know what he was going to do as I had already taken out eighty percent of his underlings in one night while also removing access to resources outside of his hidey hole, even if it was twelve stories tall a hidey hole was a hidey hole.

And I remembered the suggested tactics for dealing with Deathstalkers, which were notorious for their lairs and traps; "The best trap are those that are indiscriminate, those that will affect anyone, but they have the distinct disadvantage of being used against the one that set the trap. The Deathstalker is known for trapping it's targets in a space where they have trouble maneuvering from lack of sight, but eliminate that and you'll almost always be the more agile one of the two. The least dangerous place to fight Grimm is in a situation where they can't move."

I would just lock the doors behind me when I went in and Beat on anyone who I came across, hopefully blocking any chance of escape in exchange for walking face first into whatever he had planned for me. And With that I set off at a brisk pace, noting the non Hostiles on my map as I passed them and how their eyes seemed to be glued to my back. It was odd, being able to almost taste the apprehension in the air as I moved down the streets, opting to stay out of sight until I had no other choice.

I set the pace, and I choose jogging.

Honestly, the anxiety I felt around me was probably not even surrounding me, just carried over from the increased activity of the Syndicate in the last few days. The heavy movement of the criminal enterprise wouldn't have gone unnoticed by the people who lived nearby, who probably saw it as another gang war or something to mess up their already fucked lives.

I ended my casual jog through the Southside Slums when I could see the entrance of my target, the fairly large building that looked like someone who had too much money and not enough sense had designed. Anyone who used _burgundy_ on a building as large as this one could be nothing more than pretentious.

I began stretching as my oddly subdued emotions began to become known, feeling the pops and cracks of my body as I made eyes at the small contingent of Armed Guards. I waited until they turned to regard me, as I had made no attempt to conceal my presence, before Bending my legs and **Lunging** at them. With the skill being based off of Strength, I barely had to put sixty Stm to move ninety feet in a matter of seconds. And I chose not to aim up as though to maximise my distance, moving in an arch to utilize gravity to my benefit, instead choosing to accelerate until I hit resistance.

My knee hit a man's chin and liquidized everything above his chin, sending the remains of his body flying away, while I landed in between the four survivors, who began to fumble for comms and weapons. My eyes snapped up, letting every bit of rage and anger come bubbling to the surface.

' _These are the people who threatened me, attacked me for no reason other than they could. And when that failed they decided to send people after me,_ ' My teeth were bared and a low rumble erupted from the back of my throat, ' _Turnabout is fair play, as far as I'm concerned. As they have come knocking on my door with violence, so shall I come to theirs._ _ **But I will not be stopped**_ _._ '

 **Project Bloodlust; Successful!**

I could only see the sudden stillness in the Guard my eyes were locked onto, but I heard the same from the two beside me. The Fear in the young man's eyes shone brightly, and I capitalized on it by throwing my arm to the side to unsling my Weapon, hearing the slick noise as the hook cut open the man on my left, before snapping the weapon with all of my remaining Stm and a quarter of my health as power as I brought the caught man into his allies. The three stunned men barely had time to blink before the Chain _slammed_ into their sides, breaking equipment and bone as they were sent tumbling to the side in a barely living heap of shattered men.

Only now, as the sight entered my head and the emotions began to recede ever so slightly, something that I knew wouldn't be gone until every offender was in a similar state, did I realize that this was the most emotion I had felt in a long time. But I was stopped from following the line of thought as two notifications popped and obscured my vision.

* * *

 **A Skill has reached Max Level! Power Attack can be enhanced to Tier 2!**

 _ **Enhancing a Skill with branches extends benefits and costs to all of them, though they will not be reset in level, so take caution!**_

 **-Power Attack (Tier 1.2); The skill stays the same and progresses at the same rate as a Tier 1 Skill.**

 **-Thundering Blow (Tier 2);**

 _ **The World shall know the Strength of Storms in my Wake.**_

 **Increase the Bonus per Level by .05%, but take (100-(Lvl*5)) Hp per use.**

 **\- These Fists of Mine (Tier 2.5);**

 _ **They've carried me through thick and thin; my trusted companions.**_

 **Power Attack is lost, but passively Double the Stm cost of Fighting Style to triple the bonus to damage.**

 **-?**

 **-[** _ **Unlocked by clearing a dungeon before the end of the Tutorial]**_ **The Bumbling Locksmith (Tier 2.5);**

 _ **But what do you do if the key breaks?**_

 **Deal 200% more damage to inanimate objects, such as pesky locks. Keep Power Attack at Max Level, stopping further progress in the Skill.**

* * *

 _ **Warning!**_

 _ **Entering Dangerous Area**_

 _ **Recommended Level: 14**_

 _ **Enter?**_

* * *

I looked up at my Minimap, and frowned as the option to leave still seemed to be out of my grasp. ' _I've been running around the city for over a week, how do I finish the Tutorial-_ '

* * *

 **[Hidden System Quest] Discovered!**

 **Tutorial Completion; 8/9!**

 **Unlock the most basic of Mechanics of the Game that is your life!**

 **+Sleeping!**

 **+Status!**

 **+Equipment!**

 **+Skills!**

 **+Dungeons!**

 **+Level Ups!**

 **+[?]**

 **+Reputation!**

 **+Physics!**

 **Rewards for finishing the Tutorial; +2 Free point per Level Gained while in the Tutorial, and Removal of Hidden [Training Wheels] Status!**

* * *

I blinked slowly at the screen, before closing my eyes to count to ten, and mentally dismissing the Notification to bring up the Screen pertaining to my Power Attack, the most useful skill in Damage output I had under my belt. I chose to double down on it, knowing that with adrenaline rush I could pump more Stamina than I possessed by substituting Health which allowed me to make up for the set back of **Thundering Blows** until it caught up. I chose it and confirmed the choice, grimacing at the significant loss of DPS before a major Dungeon, but I was confident that my DPS was never my problem, it was usually hitting the spinny and jumpy bastards I fought.

' _No one seems to be able to take a real punch, so far. Running at mach 2 may be impressive, but I feel like I've proven that being able to take a barrage of attacks is more effective than not._ '

But, I didn't like the giant disparity between the sheer volume of Health I had and the measly number I regenerated, which was probably leagues above civilians, but inadequate for my chosen style of fighting. A single Skill came to mind, **Adrenaline Rush** , because it was the ability to trade Health for Stamina, but I couldn't help but feel like it could be reversed. Like Heat Energy to Sound or Chemical Energy, it was never lost only transferred. So I used adrenaline rush to dump a sixteenth of my Hp and then willed the abstract concept of Stamina to heal me, much like how I used Power Attack to make Power jump, but much less focused.

* * *

 **Skill Learned; Second Wind!**

 _ **Put me back in Coach!**_

 **Burn Stm to restore Hp, ratio of 1:1.**

* * *

My grin was nothing short of victorious as the skill began to take effect and my Hp rose while my Stamina dropped. Feeling well prepared for whatever waited for me in the Dungeon, I stepped towards the Doors and stepped inside.

* * *

 _End of Interlude and Intermission 1!_

* * *

 _Don't know if you folks have caught onto it yet, but our boy here has made dialogue sparse for the first little bit of the story. I'll be trying to reveal as little information as possible in the interludes, though I admit that the format has grown on me. Expect at least one Interlude in the beginning of each chapter, and another of these intermission chapters every four or five Chapters in periods of relative peace._

 _Also, in case it peaked any of your interests, Levels in NPC's are determined by the combination of the Subject's three highest Stat. For instance, Taylor was level 12 while Marcus was Level 8 because Marcus was more Even in his distribution._

 _Please Review, I like to hear what people think, even if it is to call this thing a flaming pile of garbage!_

 _Jericho Out._


	6. Prologue: Part 5

Interlude A

* * *

 _The only thought that ran through my head was the sick chant of "_ _ **Kill. Destroy. Kill. Destroy,**_ " _and so I complied._

 _The slick tree branch shook in my hand and threatened to slip out with each swing I took, but I couldn't stop myself. Every bit of pain, every moment of fear, and every fleeting moment of_ **Rage** _fueled my swings as I laid into the black beast under my body. Only when it was no more, which was long after my makeshift weapon had broken, did I stop and then sound came rushing back to me, as did the feeling of my body._

 _My body was a single entity of pain, every bit of it as though punctured by a million needles and every movement stepping closer to total destruction. I stumbled as I attempted to continue my journey forwards and tried to keep my weight off of my bad leg before looking at my trembling hands. The skin of my hands, as dirty and black with mud as they were, still revealed that they were broken and bleeding. I was stirred from my inspection by being shook about the shoulders by strong hands._

 _I looked up from my hands, and the_ _ **blood**_ _, to see the concerned face of an older lady, but more importantly she was_ a person _. And she looked_ _ **nice**_ _as well, which was just enough for my battered and tired body to consider it's long haul over. My eyes went for a blink and then I buckled, falling into the arms of my savior, who ironically was the one_ _ **I**_ _had just saved from the Beast._

 _The Next time I awoke I was in a clean_ _ **[too clean]**_ _room, covered in bandages and lying in a bed about as comfy as sleeping on carpet, but it felt like heaven to my back. I stayed silent, just basking in my newfound ability to just lie there, to_ **rest** _. The first nurse who entered my room was too engrossed to see that my eyes were open, but my throat felt too dry to even attempt noise. Thankfully the voice, if it could have been called that, was gone and was no longer scaring me with it's insistent commands in a voice that rattled and felt_ _ **wrong**_ _, and I revelled in its absence._

 _In the end, I just let her figure it out. I went back to sleep before she even noticed it in the first place. Because I felt like I had_ _ **earned**_ _that shit._

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

I calmly, ever so calmly, _stomped_ through the groaning bodies of my enemies towards the remaining Gunman, turning my head to the side and cracking my neck with my left hand. I felt the flow of blood halt completely as Second Wind activated, and then focused on the man currently trying and failing to reload his gun. As he finally pushed the clip into his Submachine Gun, I casually slapped him aside and continued my march forward. I had "Fought" through the first twenty three floors of the building, if you could call the one sided beatdown a fight. I only stopped moving to pick up an ammo belt from a relatively high level Gunman and any clips of pistol ammo I found.

And still it had taken the better part of the night.

I was literally just climbing stairs to the next floor and clearing them of Goons, the most boring part of my week, really. Even at nights when keeping watch I was under the impression that I was in danger, but now that I was facing my enemies, I found them wanting. My base Regeneration was sitting pretty around 60 points per second, and Second wind basically added my Stamina regen to it as well, leaving it at 85 per second, and an ordinary bullet did close to 70 Damage.

I literally outpaced bullet wounds, and on the unlikely chance that someone tried to hit me with a weapon they didn't even get that close. Honestly, I was a little embarrassed that I had been worried about this, they may have been well equipped to deal with Civilians, but I'm squishing them even when I'm below their level. I shook my head as I stepped towards the exit of the room, intending to return to the Lobby and then the Staircase, when a notification appeared as I touched the Handle.

* * *

 _ **Warning; Powerful Enemy Ahead.**_

* * *

That was all the warning I had before the Door exploded inwards and I was sent rolling back, settling into a block as the figure that crashed through the door slammed into me. As the Attack was sent to the side my Fist shot out like a Piston to Land a solid blow to my attacker's Abdomen. As they Flew the thirty feet to make contact with the far Wall I marvelled at how much damage they managed to do on a _Blocked_ hit. Almost a tenth of my Health gone in an instant, and I felt like I had shattered every bone in my arm.

' _That'll teach me to complain,_ ' I thought as I stood carefully as my actions were mirrored by my opponent, though his arm wasn't currently knitting itself back together like Mine. Hell, beyond the odd look he was giving me, he didn't look any worse for the Attack I just slammed him with.

[ **Sal Monella** ]

[ **Lvl 29 Fighter** ]

[ **Opposing Force** ]

If the notification hadn't have told me he was dangerous, the words above his head would have tipped me off. And I was also slightly put off by the Blue glow that had appeared around his Body, as though he were on fire.

"That was one hell of a punch," I said as I cracked my fingers and let my Stm regen, "I'm not sure I can beat you, though I do hope you don't mind me trying," I told him honestly, with a savage smile beginning to form on my lips.

His wide eyes moved from me to the hand he held at his side before he responded, " _I've_ got one hell of a punch? You nearly put me through the wall with yours!" He pulled himself from the plaster, "And _you_ don't know if you can beat me. That's just swell," He settled into a loose guard as he finished, before he charged at me with a war cry.

I echoed the sentiment, Jumping above him and slamming my Fists into the back of his head sending him rolling into a recovery. I used another Power Jump as my feet came in contact with the ceiling to slam into the man, which would've worked had the Blue Fire not erupted when I was an inch from connecting to send us flipping in either direction.

I landed in a slide on my feet and shook off the dizziness to see that once again I had lost another Tenth of my Health. I scowled as I felt my Collarbone quickly healing, as I knew that he hadn't thrown a single punch. I looked over at the man, who was ripping himself and the door he was attached to from the frame. With a scoff he broke the Wooden frame and stepped towards me, but I noticed that the Blue fire seemed to have receded a fair bit. I pulled my firearm for the first time in the hotel and Quickly fired off a few shots, grinning in satisfaction as they rebounded back at me and dealt twice what they should have, though the man did flinch in response to them.

"So _you_ don't have the Killer Punch that's been throwing me around, but _I_ do. Fancy Trick you got there," I said as I gestured at him and his Blue fire as I used Second Wind to heal about eight percent of my health, "But what doesn't make sense is why someone like you is working for the Don, it doesn't mesh to me."

He responded with remarkable ease as he dodged my potshots and retaliated by bodily throwing one of the Groaning Gunmen still littering the floor, "What doesn't mesh to me is how _you_ , someone with no recorded training has managed to bring low a major criminal enterprise in a matter of days. Even if your Caregiver had given you training, which I'm not sure she did, It wouldn't explain the sheer Strength you possess, because training can only go so far," and as if to prove his point I idly swatted the body out of the air so hard the tiles around the impact cracked.

I smiled as I Holstered my Pistol and ripped a nearby Vending Machine from the Wall and Threw it over my head, mostly as a distraction as I unfurled a few feet of Chain and Followed it. Every bit of unused Stamina was being pumped through Second wind to pump my Health Regen, so I had to resort to only basic attacks for the fight, so as He charged through the machine I slammed my weapon into his head, glad to see that the Chain simply bounced off and my arm moved in the opposite direction without any massive damage, and then Blocked his overhead slam of both his fists.

It was like trying to block an irresistible force, as the more I tried to Block it the more force he had to reflect back onto me, so I rolled out from under him to disengage. As the resistance was lost all of the Force of the strike toppled him and his fists went through the floor, so before he could recover and pull himself from the floorboards I mimicked him and slammed both of my hands into the back of his head. I was rewarded with him sent crashing through the floor, and I took the opportunities to shoot a few more times at his back as he recovered. The first few didn't rebound back, but once he turned up to look at me they began to once more.

"Selective Reflection or something Right?" I stated with curiosity as I crouched over the Hole, "Always gotta look your enemy in the Eye, or something similar," I tilted my head as the color drained from his face before an enraged snarl overcame it. He launched himself towards me, but I just swung my Chain overhead in response. As he zoomed towards me a Fully Powered Thundering Blow, 870 Stamina and seventy four percent of my health dumped into Adrenaline Rush, caught him down the back of his head and neck.

* * *

 **[Relentless] Activated.**

 **Critical Hit!**

 **Damage Dealt = (571*(1+(870+667)*.005))*1.5 = 7439 Damage.**

* * *

Sal went down hard, and the force of him hitting the floor face first, because physics will tell you that there is an equal and opposite force for every interaction, not only detonated the floor upon which he landed but also Bounced him hard enough to send him through the floor and the ceiling above. Thankfully, his blue fire had left him and from there he limply fell to the floor beneath his new skylight in a groaning and bleeding pool of person.

I thought about his power, and how useful it could be, but unless you could always determine the flow of battle it was pretty easy to get around. Nonetheless I had questions unanswered, and the Dungeon was swiftly dismantling itself around us, the odd twist of wood and Tile that had been the Wallpaper of the dungeon swirling in reverse as it returned to a normal Lobby, much to the relief of my eyes.

I sat down heavily next to the man, who had been the biggest challenge I had faced so far, but simply hadn't been prepared enough to stop me. I sighed and just decided to ask him stuff before intimidating him.

"You never answered my question."

He spit the blood out of his mouth, and a few teeth that had been knocked loose, before answering, "What was I supposed to do, let you kill my family? I had to fight, no matter how bad he is, he's family."

I raised an eyebrow at him before leaning in to respond, "Do you know why I'm here?"

He laughed a wet laugh as more red spilled from his lips, though that was swiftly being patched up by a small blue light dancing along his injuries, "I thought you were another Martyr, another fool throwing their life away to try and stop the Don. You wouldn't have been the first to try or the first to die doing it. But now, after you wiped out everybody in the Syndicate in one way or the other," he looked up at me, before averting his eyes, "And you don't look like you're trying to die. You look like you're trying very hard to live."

"Real Philosophical, Asshole," I snorted at his response, "I'm here because somebody the Don paid, or was going to pay, tried to burn my Apartment building down. I've spent the past week systematically destroying this thing because you dared put people that I owed a debt to in danger. But do you know why this started, the real reason anybody got hurt on either side?" I waited for him to respond, and continued when he slowly shook his head, "Because your girl Taylor tried to mug me when I was out digging up paperwork. Paperwork."

As he stared at me with wide eyes, I threw back my head and laughed openly before sobering slightly, "Gran always said that Paperwork was going to be the death of her, but it turns out to be more true for the members of your organization."

With that I stood up, intent on traipsing up the last set of stairs and finishing this kerfuffle, but a hand clamped onto my ankle before I could even take a step. I looked back down to find determined eyes, even as he was covered in blood he wasn't broken. "I know my dad, but even for him this seems like a massive miscalculation. He sentenced men to their deaths without all of the information. If I'd known, I'd have taken it out of his hide."

"What a coincidence," my voice full of mirth and cheer, though not without respect for the man beaten to a pulp in front of me.

He seemed to be satisfied with whatever he saw in my face and in my voice, so he let my ankle go and slumped in place, probably to rest or heal his wounds through his "blue fire".

' _I still can't believe that this came from something so insignificant. To think this could have been avoided if Nan had left my file and a_ _ **Note-**_ '

* * *

 **Mechanic Unlocked; Notes!**

 **Information deemed important to Quests will be cataloged in the Notes Section, allowing for a detailed log!**

* * *

 **[Hidden System Quest] Finished!**

 **Tutorial Completion; 9/9!**

 **Unlock the most basic of Mechanics of the Game that is your life!**

 **+Sleeping!**

 **+Status!**

 **+Equipment!**

 **+Skills!**

 **+Dungeons!**

 **+Level Ups!**

 **+Notes!**

 **+Reputation!**

 **+Physics!**

 **Rewards for finishing the Tutorial; +2 Free point per Level Gained while in the Tutorial (30), and Removal of Hidden [Training Wheels] Status!**

 _ **Can now accept or deny Quests, and Leave Dungeons at will!**_

* * *

 **Level up +2!**

 **Free points will now be distributed as you described!**

* * *

 **Austin**

 **Class: Protector:**

 **Lvl 15: 50/1500 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 16315, HP Regen: 74 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 990/990, Stm Regen: 28 Stm/Sec**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (83) 87**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 26**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (108) 111**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 6**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 59**

* * *

 **Accept?**

 **[Y/N]**

* * *

I smiled, glad that the function was now present as well as finally getting out of the "Tutorial," which marked some progress towards surviving whatever the hell I was now in. I then closed out of those three Windows and looked at the Page for Attributes. I saw that now the list was smaller and I had to press on the Trees to have them show the options, so I tapped the [Decimator], [Bulwark], and [Unyielding] trees and left the rest closed.

* * *

 _ **Choose a Perk!**_

 **-Decimator Tree;**

 **Available Attributes:**

 **-Juggernaut; 15 Str Required.**

 **Every point of Str lets you take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **Increase Atk by 5%.**

 **Allows access to [Tough as Nails] and [Fist Wizard].**

 _ **+Finesse Tree.**_

 _ **-Bulwark Tree;**_

 **\- Fast Regenerator; 30 Con Required.**

 **Regenerate a Half of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, and your Con's worth of Stamina per Second.**

 **Ignore 5% of all Damage.**

 **Allows access to [Instant Regeneration] and [Rampant Mutation].**

 **\- Made of Health; 25 Con and 15 Wis Required.**

 **Increase your Hp and Stm by 50%.**

 **Allows access to [Made of Scars] and [Made from Marble].**

 **+Acrobat Tree.**

 **+Scholar Tree.**

 **+Ponderer Tree.**

 **+Rogue Tree.**

 **-Unyielding Tree;**

 **-Deadened; 30 Res Required.**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects.**

 **Receive .25% less Damage for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **Allows access to [Dead Man Walking] and [Forged in Fire].**

 **-Brick Wall; 25 Res and 15 Con Required.**

 **Become immune to the Knockback Effect, but lose .5 mph Base Movement Speed.**

 **Resist 5% Physical Damage.**

 **Allows access to [Holy Aura] and [Gather Momentum].**

* * *

I smiled as I looked through the options, and Chose the [Juggernaut] Perk, simply because it was broken, but also for access to the next Decimator Perks. I accepted, and while I didn't feel any different I was taking twenty or so percent less physical damage from now on. And that kept the smile on my face even as I pushed open the door to the Stairwell and began the three floors worth of stairs to the penthouse. I then pulled up the next and last Notification, glad to see the progress in Skills made in the dungeon hadn't been proportional to my boredom.

* * *

 **Skills Levelled!**

 **Brawling + 4**

 **Chain Mastery + 4**

 **Pistol Mastery + 1**

 **Thundering Blows + 5**

 **Blocking + 1**

 **Mitigation + 2**

 **Adrenaline Rush + 2**

 **Second Wind + 1**

 **Splash + 2**

 **Power Jump + 3**

 **Lunge + 1**

 **Detect Bloodlust + 2**

 **Instinct + 2**

* * *

I closed the Screen as I got to the Door, and checked to make sure that there was indeed only a single lonely **1/203** under the Quest before entering the Penthouse. The door was locked, but then again it _was_ still attached to it's frame when I got there. I walked over it's remains and casually strolled into the grandiose domain, and when I checked my Minimap I saw that there were _two_ blips waiting for me, but only one was red. Neither were moving though, so I went to them.

I walked down a corridor and calmly opened the door, taking in an office where a stocky man sat behind a desk and Taylor sat in a chair with a pair of crutches sending a glare my way.

I ignored her.

[ **Louis "The Don" Monella** ]

[ **Lvl 7 Con Man** ]

[ **Brittle Smile** ]

"You the Don?" I clarified, my small vicious smile nothing short of victorious.

The man looked up at me, the sole active member of his Organization, and had the Gall to look down his nose at me. I heard Taylor Snickering behind me, for some unknown reason, and when I looked at my Map to make sure she wasn't about to attack me I noticed that _she_ was the red dot, and not the Don.

The Red coloured dots were those marked by [Detect Bloodlust].

This Man didn't want to fight me.

This man was a _coward_.

In that Moment I narrowed my eyes and focused [Instinct] on him. I could hear with a clarity that made my senses a week and a half ago sound like a deaf man, and I could hear with utmost accuracy how fast his heart was racing, the distinct sound of tapping shoes under his desk, but it was nothing compared to the _Stench_ of Sweat and Fear that hit me. It confused me, but I didn't have time to think on it before he addressed me.

"You come into my house. You fight my people. You Hurt my _son_." With every sentence he began to raise himself from his seat and lean over his desk, trying to make eye contact with me, "And you walk in here like you own the place. Yes, I am the Don. Yes, I am the man you are looking for, but after I'm through with you you're gonna wish you hadn't found me. I know people that would skin alive, I have people that owe me favors that could eat you for breakfast, and I have an entire book of people willing to fight for debt to be cleared. Think wisely before you raise a hand to me."

I blinked at him, feeling the effect of intimidation try and effect me, but wash off like water on the back of a duck, and instead laughed openly before flicking him on the nose with enough force to send him into his chair and rolling towards the window behind him. I placed my hands on his desk and **pushed** , and the age old wood splintered under my fingers. My intimidation began to blare, as did my [Project Bloodlust], and I spoke in a low rumble that echoed with a growl, " I couldn't care less for any of that, because right here in this room, right now tonight, it's just _you_ and _**me**_. You're the Little shit who's been messing with me. You're the Little Shit that tried to hurt me and mine. You're the Little shit in charge of bigger fish, and you're not gonna be thinkin' _anything_ after I'm through with you. And before you ask, you won't be dead. You will wish for it, but it will not come."

I heard his bladder and bowels straining to release themselves, so I turned that skill off quick. I let the Status effects continue in full force before suddenly turning them off and smiling my most innocent smile at him, revelling in the Terror that came across his face, "Unless you can make it up to me," and when he tried to rally I focused everything I could on him alone, "Because you owe me."

"W-what do you want?" he asked feebly, obviously beyond his broken facade, " I have money! I can give you money, or maybe weapons, or drugs-" I shook my head, cutting him off before he rambled more.

"No. I want to take from _you_ what you almost took from me. My people." The words sunk in, but I continued anyways, "I've killed or beaten into the dirt every single one of your people, except for you. And I don't know if I could Beat you without you dying. You seem weak. So either I beat on you or you lose someone important to you. You will make no moves towards or against them along with anyone I am associated with, or I'll come back _specifically_ for you. And then everything you ever owned or anyone you ever even thought of meeting. They will be _done_ with you, and you of them." ' _Like your son. He needs to get out of this business. Seemed too honorable for it._ '

He paled before pointing and screaming, "You can have her! Take her, just leave me alive!" I heard a gasp from behind me, but he seemed undeterred, "She's my Heir, the one who would take over once I'm gone. If that isn't worthy than I don't know what is."

I shrugged, as it seemed to be a good enough trade, But I pulled up the **Notes** just to be sure.

* * *

 **Record; Taylor Chesterton; Age 16.**

 **Next of Kin; N/A.**

 **Personality; ?**

 **Background; In and out of foster homes since she was seven, and with a long history of violence to match. Arrested multiple times, expelled from the Mountain Glenn Preparatory school A week before the Fall of The Mount, and the Highest Combat Score in the School's History. Expressed a desire for protection from the strongest source, most likely born from a lack of strong parental figures. Extreme Change in Moods observed, any civilian should approach cautiously. (Source; Child Services, Restricted Materials)**

 **The Heir to the Monella Crime Family, Adopted. (Source; Don Monella's Mouth)**

 **Criminal record; Assault and Battery, Petty Theft, and Evading Arrest.**

 **Opinion; ?**

 **Official School Documentation;**

 **Strength: B**

 **Accuracy: C**

 **Speed: A+**

 **Strategy: D**

 **Aura Strength: C-**

 **(Source; Child Services, Restricted Materials)**

* * *

I grunted in assessment, glad to see that just by completing the objective relating to the information it was stored. It meant that the information I needed for my other active quest was in here as well. "You'll never be in contact with her again, upon penalty of death. Do you understand?" I wanted this as clear as I could get it.

"Don..?" Came an angry whisper from behind me, but once again it didn't seem to slow the Don any.

"Yes, and good riddance! Her actions brought you down upon us, so please take her away!" He bellowed, even as a growl erupted from behind me.

"And this agreement will stand with any other head of your family?" I said with a raised eyebrow, as he was so willing to throw a supposed family member under the bus.

"Yes, it will stand. Now please Leave, I've things to do." I nodded and turned on my heel, content to walk out of the place, but the sight of Taylor had me stopping. Her blue eyes blazed as she glared at the Don, before huffing, standing up, and spitting at the Cowardly Don. She then Limped out of the room, no longer using her crutch at all. I chuckled inwardly, but didn't even dignify the man with a look back.

* * *

 **Quest Completed; Down with the Don!**

 **-The Don doesn't like you beating his top enforcer, and will be sending people to make an example of you. "Convince" the Don to remove the Mark on you, one way or another.**

 **-Bonus Objectives Completed: Disrupt the Don!**

 **-An organization like the Syndicate must feed and equip their people, but if he can't they may do the job for you.**

 **-Deal with All of the Members of the Monella Mafia, unlocking the alternative Route, [Shotcaller].**

 **-?**

 **Rewards: Removal of "Marked" Status, 2000 exp, and 5 Free Points.**

 **Bonuses: 1 Free Point per Supply Cache disrupted (5), [?].**

 **Monella Mafia Members and Hires: 0/203.**

* * *

 **Level Up + 1!**

* * *

I walked out of the Building and marvelled at the Relatively small amount of time that it took to deal with that issue. I didn't even deal with the Pop ups that came about, trusting them to deal with themselves as they had before, as I pulled up the **Note** regarding Myself and began Running towards my Apartment.

* * *

 **Report; Austin Stáin; Age 16.**

 **Next of Kin; Classified.**

 **Personality; Emotionally immature (His own mind).**

 **Background; A Young Man without memory, Found roaming the Wilderness by Titania Stáin where he saved saved her from a single Grimm. Raised by Stáin as her own, but recently orphaned and on his own once more. Exceptionally adept at surviving, but not really great at much else on paper.**

 **The reason his Records are unknown, as they were last removed from the office by a mysterious Professor O, as seen in the Signature. (Source; Child Services, Restricted Materials)**

 **Criminal record; Public Disturbance and Assault (Sealed).**

 **Opinion; Had to have the Game tell him his self-worth, so what do you think? (His own MInd).**

 **Official School Documentation;**

 **Strength: A**

 **Accuracy: C**

 **Speed: D**

 **Strategy: B**

 **Aura Strength: N/A**

 **(Source; Child Services, Restricted Materials)**

* * *

I grumbled as I read through it, seeing obvious interference by the Game and a lack of the information that I sought. I sighed heavily and continued to Run home, content to finally sleep in a bed of a sort.

* * *

I was welcomed home with smiles from Tuco and Maria and I was able to go to my room and rest, though there would be less rest than training tonight. Even as I stepped into my room I was planning out what I'd be spending time doing tomorrow, deciding that I'd be trying to Help out the Civilians still in the Mount. Ironically, the only way I could think of doing this was following the same advice I had given to Team STRQ nearly a week ago, and I chuckled as I remembered how little time had passed since I had started, fought, and won a Gang War.

"What a Warmonger I am," I chuckled as I began to pull the mostly shredded Jacket off.

"I'd have to agree," came a voice from nearby, and as I quickly finished my motion I found Taylor with her Leather Jacket on the back of my Computer Chair while she methodically, all while looking quite irritated about it, brushed stuff out of the Tail attached with a clip to the bottom of the Jacket, an odd design but who was I to judge. I wore destroyed clothing on the regular. She shot me a quick Glare before returning her attention to her Tail, "Next time you decide to fight for my freedom, I'd appreciate having a say in the matter."

I quirked an eyebrow at her, but as I had beaten her when I was only Level two, I was fairly confident I could take her now, and as she was no longer projecting Bloodlust I wasn't too concerned. So I simply continued with what I was doing while I questioned her.

"You would," I responded to her earlier statement, "How'd you get in?" and I understood why the look she shot me was nothing short of incredulous as she gestured to the door, so I clarified, "The building, Girlie, not my paper thin door."

She shrugged and returned to her work, "I told the guy who answered the Door that I was a friend of yours."

I barked a harsh laugh, "And I assume he didn't believe you for a second."

She cracked a smile as well before sobering, "Not at all, gave me the most accusatory look I'd ever seen. Such a stern look for such a Weak man."

I shrugged as I pulled on a shirt, a shirt that I could've sworn was loose on me a few days ago, "He might be weak, but he's yet to screw me over. And, for clarity's sake, _Why the Hell are you here_?"

"Well, as it happens, I may have been kicked out of my home by a certain deal made by a certain someone," She accused without much heat and more bitter acceptance, "And I'm here because you need to take responsibility," she finished with the last Stroke of her brush, where she promptly stabbed the handle through my Desk.

I grimaced at her words, "Don't say it like that, if Maria hears she'll have the entire complex thinking I ran off to get laid," and then I grimaced harder as the implication of her words hit home, "and what do you mean _take responsibility_ , as far as I'm concerned I don't owe you anything."

She openly scoffed as she stood up, "You don't owe me anything? Whose fault is it that I'm Homeless, Jobless, and suddenly without a Family?" She walked forward and poked a deceptively strong finger into my chest, "Because if You have a name for me, I'll head their way."

I grabbed her by the wrist, letting the Bubbling fury that was a constant of my life spring into existence, baring my teeth and growling out a deep rumble as I answered as menacing as I could, "If I remember correctly, _You_ fell out of the sky with enough force to crack concrete and then called the rest of your Goon Squad on me when you lost. If its my fault because I won, I got news for you Girlie. You bet on the wrong Horse, so don't go begging at the Winner's door expecting a handout."

She didn't seem phased at the emotions that may as well have been a physical force and instead bared her teeth at me, before visibly calming herself down. "Fine, then how about we make a deal. You're gonna catch a lot of heat, mostly from the smaller groups of the syndicate angry that you took away their main force to battle the Military. How about I stay around and help you out, maybe watch the building if you leave or come with you to help out in a fight. And this definitely has nothing to do with the heat that's going to be on _me_ for being partly to blame for this disaster. Nor the fact that you didn't finish the job."

I let her wrist go and barked a laugh in her face before turning back to my beaten bag of clothing to shuffle through for intact clothing, "I finished the job. I left him alive because I want him to suffer, not because he deserves life. If I ever even _hear_ his name I'll cut every tendon in his body and leave him outside the walls, but I thought some powerlessness would be appropriate," I smiled viciously and heard my voice drop to a guttural tenor, "Because Death would be to good for him."

I looked back over at her, not surprised at all to see the shocked look on her face, and I laughed as she tried to pull herself together, "It's a little messed up, but I ain't gonna lie about it," And with that I threw everything back on the bed before walking towards the door, "But I'm also not going to stop you from staying here, the Mount's in a real shitty way so there isn't any rent. Just don't be a nuisance or try to go against mine and the Don's Deal, and you should be fine. Now I'm gonna go train."

And with that I left the stunned Girl in the barely livable room.

* * *

Interlude B

* * *

She had been prepared to argue with Austin, to persuade him into helping her out. She had thought out a few reasons, had planned to bring up his inabilities to talk to people, to focus on anything important, and, most recently, and inability to pass even the simplest of classes in an attempt to drag a favor out of him. Maybe as an exchange if she couldn't convince him out right, because she was quite certain that she would be unable to force him.

So she had gone to his apartment, getting there in a few minutes after the confrontation between Austin and the Don, and after almost half an hour of standing around waiting for him, she decided to just go inside and wait. After convincing the Super that she actually knew the Antisocial fool she went inside the small apartment, where she busied herself as she waited by snooping through the small amount of items in the room before falling into the comfiest thing in the room; the Gaming Chair.

After a few minutes, the door burst open and the man of the hour walked in. Now that she was no longer fighting him, watching him through gritty monitors as he fought others, or as he managed to successfully dismantle her contract with the Don and the Monella Family she noticed that his eyes were now a brighter red than they were in School, though he stood and walked with the same confident and open stance that seemed to draw fights to him like clockwork. Feet placed wide, shoulders lowered just enough to draw his weight forward to avoid tipping or throw hands at the slightest sign of trouble.

He did however seem heavier, as though his frame was threatening to fall through the floor at any time, and he seemed much more fluid in his movements than the awkward and clunky student he had been. Not to mention his face was now an open book, where he used to just be blank in the face or asleep at any given time now every little emotion showed on his features. ' _Or maybe… he's just started feeling more emotions than before?_ '

After a few seconds of observing he dropped his book bag and _tore_ the shirt from his body, revealing a heavily scarred body and little else, so she decided now was the time to interject.

And after the tense but brief exchange of words she had gained a place to stay, extracting from him a promise of peace even if veiled, but had been left with the surprise of his parting sentences on the Don. Surprised because how much she agreed with them, that the man should suffer before death and everything he loved should be burnt in front of his eyes. The surprise came from the fact that such vitriol came from Austin, who had never even shown slight antagonism towards his near weekly attackers at School and in fact went out of his way to be a good sport when it came to violence.

And then his parting statement caught up to her and she blinked.

"Hey, wait for me, Asshat!" Because if she could predict anything, that level of vitriol and combat prowess in one body wouldn't be a peaceful existence, and she had an idea that she would have to earn her keep around her new Acquaintance. So she would need all the Training she could get.

* * *

 _End of Chapter 5_

* * *

 **Austin Stáin**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Lvl 16: 550/1600 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 21391.04 HP Regen: 96 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1215.4, Stm Regen: 34 Stm/Sec**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (90) 94**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 29**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (118) 122**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 6**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 64**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 438.7296**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage (Stamina Only): 5237.817203**

 **Pistol Atk: 190.9**

 **Def: Phys; 63%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[?]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [?** **] Skill.** _ **Inherited from ?.**_

 **[?]; ?. Inherited from ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_ **[Hidden Modifier of +15 Base on Attraction Value].**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent.**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Enduring];** _**I can still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut]; For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **Class Bonuses:**

 **+2 Con, +2 Res, +1 Str, and +1 Dex Per Level.**

 **+50% Movement Speed towards Injured Friendlies.**

 **-2 Cha and -2 Int per Level.**

 **-100% Renown points gained, Reset to Zero, Replaces Renown Title With [Helper].**

 **-25% Monetary and Loot Rewards from Quests.**

 **Skills:**

 _ **Combat:**_

 **-Brawling! Level 33; 22% to next level.**

 _ **I fight like I eat; Aggressively.**_

 **A sloppy Hand to Hand style focused on raw physicality over finesse.**

 **Skill gives access to all Techniques used and observed by the Skill.**

 **+165% to all damage done with this Skill.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second**

 **-Chain Mastery. Level 16; 22.3%**

 _ **The Weapon of Goons world-wide, learn to be the ultimate goon.**_

 **+80% Atk while a Chain is equipped.**

 **-Pistol Mastery, Level 3;**

 _ **The gun of Protagonists and Trash Enemies worldwide, I wonder which one you are?**_

 **+15% Atk With a pistol.**

 **+30% Critical Damage with a Pistol.**

 **+7.5% Accuracy with Pistols.**

 **+Lvl/5 Extra Rounds per reload.**

 **-Explosives Mastery, Level 8;**

 _ **I actually wanted to be a Florist, ya know.**_

 **+40% Atk when using explosives.**

 **+40% time when disabling an explosive.**

 **-Thundering Blow (Tier 2), Level 6;**

 _ **The World shall know the Strength of Storms in my Wake.**_

 **For every point of Stm spent, increase the physical damage of one Attack or Skill by 1.0%.**

 **Skill Branched;**

 **-Power Throw; Level 1**

 _ **Kobe for accuracy, Yeet for Power. YEET!**_

 **Thrown projectiles now have 50% of the Power Attack benefit.**

 **-Rend; Level 3**

 _ **Rip and Tear**_

 **Bonus Damage to Inanimate Materials, do 60% more with Power Attack.**

 **Triples Stm Cost.**

 **-Blocking. Level Max;**

 _ **"Did you tell her about your Herpes?"**_

 **The Art of Blocking an attempt.**

 **(Active) Costs (Dmg-Con) Stm/Block.**

 **Blocks 95% of damage on a successful Block.**

 **-Skill Learned: Mitigation, Level 20.**

 _ **Pain is as temporary as it is annoying.**_

 **Take 40% less physical Damage.**

 **-Skill learned: Grapple, Level 2;**

 _ **You're mine now, I've literally got you by the Balls!**_

 **Deal 90% less damage than a normal attack, but inflict [Grappled] Status upon foe.**

 **-Skill Learned: Adrenaline Rush, Level 5;**

 _ **Feel the Burn!**_

 **Burn Hp to restore Stm, ratio of 12 Hp:1 Stm.**

 **Using over 77% of Health for this skill grants the Status [Strain].**

 **-Skill Learned; Second Wind, Level 2;**

 _ **Put me back in Coach!**_

 **Burn Stm to restore Hp, ratio of 1:2.**

 **-Splash, Level 3;**

 _ **Splish, Splash, I was takin' a bath.**_

 **Physical Attacks now have an increased area of effect.**

 **Area of impact increased by a 1.15 Modifier.**

 _ **Movement:**_

 **-Running! Level 16;**

 _ **Run Bitch Run, Dey gonna get you!**_

 **Move at 285% of your base movement speed.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/sec.**

 **Maximum running Speed: 6.555 mph**

 **-Skill Learned: Power Jump! Level 12;**

 _ **If**_ **that** _**bird shat on your car it'd dent the Hood.**_

 **Through pure physicality Soar through the Air.**

 **Costs 39 Stm to jump your Str in Feet, Current base Distance 56 feet.**

 **Costs 83 Stm to Jump twice your Str in Feet.**

 **Costs 127 Stm to Jump Thrice your Str in Feet.**

 **Stm = N*39 + (N-1)*5, where N is the Coefficient of your strength, to reach N*Str Feet. -Skill Branched: Lunge, Level 7.**

 _ **Easy, Tiger.**_

 **Deal 170% of Attack after travelling a distance equal to your [Power Jump].**

 _ **Detection:**_

 **-Skill Learned: Detect Bloodlust, Level 14.**

 _ **Is it just me or does it feel a little Deadly in here?**_

 **Detection Range: 42 feet.**

 **-Skill Branched: Project Bloodlust, Level 9.**

 **(Res*2-EnemyRes)% Chance to Inflict [Stun] Status.**

 **Target must have at least (20-.5*Lvl) 15 Wisdom to be affected.**

 **Costs 24 Stm/sec.**

 **+Skill Learned: Instinct, Level 13 (Tier 2).**

 _ **My eyes are one of five senses I can use, so why rely on just one?**_

 **(Passive) Detection: 63% chance of detecting (increase to Passive 30%) [Stealthed] Units.**

 **(Active) Detection*(1+.5*Level) = *7.5, move at ½ Movement Speed while Active. If still, double the effect.**

 **Base Range = 130 feet.**

 **Senses: Hearing, Smell/Taste** **.**

 _ **Passives:**_

 **-Skill Learned: Physical Conditioning, Level 3.**

 _ **Got Gains, Bro.**_

 **Increase Str and Con by Lvl %.**

 **Current Increase = + 3%**

 **-Skill Tree: Veteran Intuition:**

 **.5% increase in damage dealt and .25% decrease in damage received from this Enemy type.**

 **-Enemies Encountered;**

 **Hooligans Level 21: 10.5% increase , 5.25% decrease.**

 **Organized Criminals Level 14: 7% increase, 3.5% decrease.**

 **Pack-Type Grimm Level 4: 2% increase, 1% decrease.**

 **Roamer-Type Grimm Level 1: .5% increase, .25% decrease.**

 **Trapper-Type Grimm Level 1: .5% increase, .25% decrease.**

 **Flier-typer Grimm Level 1: .5% increase, .25% decrease.**

 **-Skill Learned: Intimidation; Level 6.**

 _ **You don't want to see me angry.**_

 **For every 5% of health the target is missing, 6% more likely to answer a question honestly.**

 _ **Tedium (No notification):**_

 **-Skills Learned: First Aid, Level 5;**

 _ **That doesn't look quite right, the arm bone connects to the Shoulder bone, right?**_

 **Heal yourself or another when not in enemy line of sight or sustaining damage.**

 **Heal 25 Hp/Sec, requires appropriate medical supplies and 4 Stm/Sec.**

 **-Sewing, Level 7:**

 _ **Should have listened to Nan.**_

 **Restore Cloth Item Durability 6% per Level, requires Needle and Thread**

 **-Computer Science. Level 18;**

 **+36% words per minute typed.**

 **Words per minute =(1+.02(Lvls of Computer Science)(80+(Int*3)) = 112.8 Words per minute.**

* * *

 _Yo, Jericho Here._

 _For the record the Prologue Arc is coming to a close soon, and with it the actual plot that I have planned for the story will be spanned over what I hope to be a suitably long Story, as like most Open World RPG's, this one has the overarching story arching over many many smaller quests. I plan on integrating more characters now that all of the basic mechanics I plan on expanding and explaining have been introduced._

 _Please leave a review or shoot me a Message if you got any issues with the story, as I'm trying to improve with time. Also trying to stop the rambling sentences, as they sometimes get away from me. Tryin' here people._

 _And finally, the Detailed stats of the new secondary character._

 _Taylor Chesterton_

 _Level 12 Fighter (+1 Str per Level)_

 _Chroma Saboteur_

 _Str: 45_

 _Dex: 43_

 _Con: 19_

 _Agi: 70_

 _Int: 18_

 _Wis: 17_

 _Cha: 18_

 _Res: 5_

 _Traits;_

 _[Brown Fox Faunus]: +1 Dex, +1 Cha, +3 Agi, and -1 Res per level._

 _[Persistent]: -10% effect times, +100% movement speed when under debuff, and -10% time without Rest before_ _ **[Fatigue]**_ _applied._

 _Habitual Insomniac: +25% stat growth to Int and Wis, -25% time without Rest before_ _ **[Fatigue]**_ _applied._

 _[Marksman]: Add Dex to Atk._

 _Gained the Skill_ _ **[Called Shot]**_

 _50% resistance of_ _ **[Blind]**_ _effect._

 _[Like the Wind]: +50% to Movement Speed._

 _Immune to_ _ **[Paralysis]**_ _effect._

 _And as for how she moves so fast, she ran a lot as a Kid. Deal with it._

 _Jericho Out._


	7. Prologue: Part 6

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _I remember vividly the details of Nan's face when I came home with my first of several Black eyes, the lines on her face suddenly darkening as she took my appearance in, the way her eyes narrowed and flit about my face, and the slight scowl as she asked what had happened. I also remember the dressing down I received for not returning the favor to the insignificant little children that had so graciously gifted me with their present. How little I deserved the_ _ **cruelty**_ _and their Violence. How anyone with her name, who had_ _ **earned**_ _the name, deserved much better. That if anything was to occur it would be me crushing them underneath my feet and making it clear where they belonged._

 _I remember how she shook her head when I shrugged in acceptance of the missive, the woman turning and moving into the kitchen to grab what I assumed was liquor._

 _I also remember her face, her very angry face, that she stormed into the Principal's office the next day, after I had Beaten up my entire First grade Class._

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

"So what now?" I asked as I began to stretch on the rooftop, "You're just gonna follow me around?"

"You said you were gonna train, and I think I need the training," came the response form the young woman watching me stretch, not so subtly amused by my odd stretching behavior. ' _My back had always been hard to crack, sue me_.' She sighed before beginning her own routine of Warm ups to the side, "Especially if you can just laugh off a gang war so casually."

I barked a laugh as I began to Shadow Box and get into the Rhythm of punches, "Gang War implies two Gangs Fightin', this was a one-man War," and as I settled into the familiar rhythm of throwing hands I began to notice a difference in how I was moving. Sure, My hands moved much slower than the destructive power they were capable of suggested and the motions were an unplanned assault, but now it felt much more natural and Meaningful than in fights before the start of the Game, as I had taken to calling it.

It also had the added benefit of the [ **Splash** ] Skill, which broadened the Surface area of my fist by a relatively small margin, but for the purposes of Aerodynamics it was enough to create small gusts with each Punch. It was an odd experience to feel the world succumb to your will on such an observable level, to have the winds shift for your fists.

But then again, it was also odd to think that the hands that had once believed raw knuckles were a worry could now pulverise stone if they were put towards that purpose or that they had sent _deadly_ enemies rocketing away with minimal thought. Just the single-minded determination to move forward that had brought me down my path and a little screen to help me find the most effective way of doing so had brought me far.

It was a little scary, but a whole _hell_ of a lot cooler than that. I stopped shadow Boxing by dumping thirty four stamina, the amount I regenerated in a second, into each punch for the last minute, relishing in the effect of [ **Thundering Blow** ] as the small shockwaves split the night. As I finished the Routine I let my breathing return to normal and turned to my new Companion to see what her Warmup had been, but she was just staring at me from her awkward position in the middle of a stretch.

Maybe I took warm ups too seriously. I had been taught to never strain myself unnecessarily, and being impaired because I didn't warm up wouldn't have been accepted when Nan was Alive, so it wouldn't be accepted even if she was gone. ' _Just Keeping the Tradition alive_.'

Taylor stood from her stretch and crossed her arms over her chest as she gave me a look that read 'unimpressed,' which I thought looked a tiny bit brittle. "Alright, I know we've fought before, but I _think_ one of us wasn't taking it seriously. I'd appreciate a little effort, so I can see what you can do. I'd also appreciate if we could start out with just Hand to Hand."

I smiled as the audible sounds of growls began to lilt past my ears, and as her fists began to ball I focused on being as non-lethal as possible. As annoying or obtrusive as her presence may have been, she was taking steps to become better or at least useful, which was to praised. With a yell she fell upon me, and as I slid into the motions of the Brawl I tried to understand the Style being utilized against me.

Precision and Speed, an unholy amount of fists, and brutal kicks aimed for vital parts of the body. She had a habit of evading my much slower attacks and attacking while I was unbalanced, but also over extending in her bursts of percussion, as though she hadn't even thought of how quickly I would retaliate. She also seemed to know her moves, because it felt as though each series of blows was practiced meticulously to allow for the most efficient flow of energy between them, but it also made her horribly predictable.

In line with me holding back, I tried to emulate the Level of Fitness I had in the first dungeon, barely above Civilian level strength and abilities, because this was an evaluation. Not an execution. And so I threw myself to the ground under her spinning roundhouse with a roll, that was just as clumsy as I had always been, before springing up with a jump. I anticipated her dodge before I even leapt, but the sheer speed that she shot off at was still staggering. Before I had even reached where she had been, she had already bounced off the nearest building and slammed into my side with a feral snarl.

As my Hp dropped about a thousand and I was sent careening into an abandoned building's third floor, I came to the realization that I might have said something wrong.

I laughed as I blasted the collapsed roof off of me, before picking up a piece of rebar and lightly throwing a foot or so to get the feel for it. I stepped towards the hole in the wall as I heard a thump in the distance. I threw the makeshift weapon like a javelin, not even bothering to use any skill, and hopped to the left of where I had been standing. As I landed, a brown blur smashed into the ground and I swung as she stood up.

As her style had suggested, she ignored the attack to press her perceived advantage, her hands adorned with Spiked Knuckles that looked wicked in the low light. They even seemed to glow gold as she attempted to slam combos into me, and on her feet were a similar set of boots with bladed ridges that had been hidden before the fight. Simple weapons utilized brutally, and had they had blades on the sole as well, my gambit to win the first fight would have been a messy affair.

But, seeing as I hadn't got as far as I had avoiding pain or risk, I Slammed my forehead into hers before rearing up my Right knee into her to make some space in between us. The dirt and dust caked floor left a dust cloud as she slid back from the force, and I leapt forward to deliver a flying knee to her chin. She crouched and surged forward to meet me with a vicious Punch, but I surprised her grabbing her arm and continuing my flight path without any noticeable difficulty. I landed in a spin before bodily throwing her by the arm through the outside wall.

Without hesitation I launched myself as well, not really caring about the building that was falling behind me, and zoomed towards her position where she had just come out of her death spiral. I caught her around the waist and, still without a means to slow my movements, dug an arm into the Bricks and Plaster. It may have hurt like hell, and I'm half sure I left most of my arm in pieces along the dozen foot long trench along the wall, but the frantic way that Taylor was freaking out in my grasp told me that it wouldn't have ended great for her otherwise.

"Y-You're fucking insane!" she hoarsely screamed as she tried and failed not to squirm as she looked down upon the hundred and twenty foot drop below us.

* * *

[ **Disarmed** ] **Status Effect Applied!**

 **Limb removed, restore 20% of Max Hp to Regrow.**

* * *

I could only laugh through the pain in response.

* * *

The look she gave me when I said that the pulped remnant of my arm were "Nothing too major," was nothing compared to when she noticed that the muscle was visibly knitting itself back together, even as we lounged around the Building we had crashed into at the end of the Spar. She was speechless, which was odd for the short amount of time we had spent together, before she slumped over and hung her head in her hands.

I chuckled a bit, the bloody look reflected in a pool of water by my side that I was sure would put anyone off, before looking in disgust and curiosity at the sight of my arm healing itself, before noticing that the Healing wasn't even across the arm. Everything above the middle of my forearm had been gone, and it was healing noticeably fast, but the bones were lagging behind. I found that odd, and when I used Second Wind I was also irked to find that the regeneration was boosted to my entire arm, so the flesh healed even quicker than before.

I frowned at my slowly forming stump and concentrated on the feeling that Came with [ **Second Wind** ] and [ **First Aid** ], and focused my entire being on instilling the Feeling on my bone. My eyes closed, but I could feel the area being focused upon shrinking ever so slowly and before I could complete it I was out of Stamina, but I could feel the end and began to substitute Health instinctually as I inched closer past the gate of inspiration.

And then Suddenly, there was a flood of relief as the bone began to reform and my [ **Adrenaline Rush** ] cut out.

* * *

 **Skill Learned; Osteogenesis;**

 **Due to Prior Experience, Level 7!**

 **Cost to use, .93% of Health and Stamina per 1% of Bone Structure affected.**

 **Known Effects;**

 **-Regen; Replace lost Bone with your own vitality, decreasing Limb regen Effect Durations by 70%.**

 **-Hardening; Temporarily Increase the Amount of Damage Limbs can Take by 35%. Lasts until next Rest.**

 **-[?]**

* * *

I blinked at the Notification, partly because it was a great Skill to have, but mostly because it said I had used it before today. Now, I didn't like to look back very often, as that was where mistakes lived, but I feel like I would have remembered Spontaneously hardening my Bones or regrowing an arm when I was younger.

"So," came the thoroughly deadpan voice from across the trashed room, "When were you Awakened?" I simply raised my eyes from the quickly regrowing arm as I regrew the two arm bones to stare at her quizzically, "How long have you been able to do this? I feel like I would've been able to tell you were like _this_ in School. You aren't exactly subtle," she ended with a smirk in her voice.

"Eh," I stalled as I tried to remember and place things in my mind before just bringing up my **Note** on myself before shrugging my shoulders when it didn't say, "Not too long, I guess," It had certainly felt longer than ten days, "Happened during the Fall for certain."

She let out a whistle in appreciation, "You've come pretty far for such a short time, but if you gave me enough time I could still beat you."

I looked up from the **Skills** page listing how close I was to levelling up in each of them, "Is it like this for everyone?" Seemed like an oddity I hadn't heard about it in my entire time at the Preparatory School.

"Didn't someone, like your Grandma or whoever, explain this when they awakened you?" I simply stared at her as I tried to wrap my head around the thought of missing an Info Dump somewhere along the line.

"No one awakened me, I woke up on my own," and I had woken up on my own since I could remember, but I had an inkling of a feeling that she was referencing something I wasn't familiar with.

"Oof," she huffed in response, "I've heard those are always rough. I'm actually not very surprised you're so strong if you Awakened yourself, it usually happens when someone gets really close to Death, in one way or another."

She stopped to appraise me before continuing, "And that's probably to your benefit. I know we haven't really had time to talk about it, but How are you planning on getting out of here tomorrow?"

"Why would I be leaving Tomorrow?" I had planned on waiting out the siege, because I had never heard of a colony or town with direct access to a City actually lost to the Grimm.

"Because they're blowing the Tunnels tomorrow?" My eyes swivelled from my almost healed hand to meet her barely visible eyes in the Dark, and it must have been obvious as she physically flinched away form my gaze, "Guess you didn't know that, huh?"

"Why in the Hell are they gonna blow the Tunnels?" I growled, though I'm sure she knew the aggression wasn't aimed at her as she answered without any anxiety in her voice.

"They've been trying to blow them for the last few weeks, but The Don had been interfering while he insured he had a way to get him and his people out. And then you came along to throw a wrench in that plan, distracting the Syndicate for long enough that the Military finished moving their assets out of the City. Now they're ready to Leave, but they're not gonna leave the tunnels open for all of the civilians. Grimm would get in, too."

"That's…" ' _My fault, Horrible, something I need to fix_ ,' "An Issue. Looks like we've got things to do, Girlie." and with that I stood up, gratefully feeling the newly healed flesh settling and my Stamina coming to a rest at Full. I irritably swiped at the notification that had popped into existence, before addressing Taylor once more, "I need you to run an errand for me."

* * *

 **Quest Started: Landing the Dis** _ **Mount**_ **!**

 _ **Asshats are running with their tails between their legs, remind them that they have people to protect. With your fists, most likely!**_ **  
-Evacuate as much of the Civilian Population as possible, 0%/100%**

 **Rewards; + 1 Free point per 10% evacuated, [Guardian Angel] Trait, and the ability to sleep at night knowing you tried.**

 **Failure; Death.**

* * *

I landed in a crouch in front of the Library an hour later, glad to recognise most of the Faces in the Place and not smell anything resembling Death in the Air. I stood and simply walked towards the Front door and the men standing guard seemed to remember me from before as they moved out of my way. I wasted no time and entered the Front Lobby as Calmly and quickly as I could manage, before Singling out a random citizen after seeing no sign of Team STRQ.

"Where's Janette?" His face visibly paled, and I felt my [ **Intimidate** ] skill turn on, but I focused instead on his finger pointing me to the second Floor. I heard the Door to her Office open, but I superseded her coming to me by Jumping to the second floor and bypassing the stairs entirely. I landed fairly stably in front of a very surprised Librarian, but I didn't let her speak first. "We need to Talk," And with a jerk of my head towards her Office I clarified, "In private, please."

She must have seen something grim in my face because she simply nodded in response before stepping aside to let me in. I Sidled past her and patiently waited for her to close the Door before Relaying the Bad news, that the Military had decided to cut its losses and leave the Mount to Rot. "And I've come to see if You have a way to get in contact with the Hunters-in-Training that were here last time, as I'm gonna need their help to try and evacuate the remaining civilians."

"But how are you going to get the Word out? There must have been thousands of people in the City, there's just no way you could contact each and every one of them."

I sighed as I ran a hand down my face, thoroughly not liking the words I was about to say, "I have a friend, a friend who is much faster than Me, who is going around town and spreading the word."

"That's a terrible idea! They're going to Panic, maybe even riot!" She hysterically hissed at me.

"That's… That's basically the plan," I confided, "The hope is that if enough people try to push through they'll be able to overwhelm the guards on the Valean Side of the Tunnels," Now for the Big reason I came here as opposed to anywhere else, and why she would most likely object, "And they're all being told to meet _here_."

Janette blinked before springing to life in a flurry of hand motions and began to grow red in the face, " **Why would you tell them to come here?!** "

"Look, you're the closest Active Community Shelter in the City to the Tunnels, and I believe that We have to at least move as a single group for it to work. And someone has to make sure that the children are taken care of, probably in a single group towards the front, far enough so they're not actively close to any fighting, but also close enough to be pushed through once the way is clear. And the only person I could even think to ask for help was You, so… Here I am."

I waited as her breathing evened out, before being on the receiving end of a frosty glare, "I don't like the fact that you made the decision without asking me, but I also see the necessity for Haste. Very Well, I'll do my best, though I do hope you try and give me the choice to decline if anything like this happens again."

I was pretty sure it wouldn't, but I nodded solemnly anyway as she huffed and exited the room, though I was surprised to find that I still wasn't alone.

"Hi," came the hesitant voice behind me, and when I looked over my shoulder I found that the young Girl I had saved was sitting at a table in the corner of the room, a table that was absolutely covered in Books.

"Uh, Hi there Girlie," I was once again faced with my inability to talk to children, "How's this place been treatin' you?"

She shrugged as she looked back down at the book she was reading with a slight frown, "It's been… Alright, I guess. Miss Janette has taken care of me, and the Books are fun to read tool," Then she looked back up at me, "But we're going to have to leave soon, aren't we?"

"Yes, though the City'll be filled with Books, and I'll make sure you'll get to read em."

She looked back up to me, her yellow eyes piercing me as she continued to stare at me before softly calling, "D'you Promise?"

I smiled, as Taylor had drilled into me that protecting the younger civilians was to be the priority. Something about galvanizing the Crowd, or something similar, but either way I agreed that they needed the most protection. "I promise," I said, somehow unsurprised that I found myself unable to even doubt the words that came out of my mouth. They should've been bullshit, they should've hurt my throat upon saying them or rotted the teeth in my jaw, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that I'd try my damnedest.

She frowned for a moment, before smiling softly and nodding slightly in acceptance. She then looked up at me with a puzzled look on her childish countenance and asked, "Mister, why are you helping people? If I was able to do what you can, I'd have left a long time ago, but you're still here, helping," She shook her head a little bit, "Why do you care?"

I thought about it, but it wasn't a hard answer for me to find. "Because I don't like seeing people sad, it makes me feel bad," And I smiled as the backbone of my simple thoughts came to me, "I wouldn't be able to stand myself if I didn't even try, and Life is too short to spend it bein' sad. So I try and help others to let them know I'm tryin' to help."

Ashley furrowed her eyebrows at me, before simply nodding and smiling in acceptance. "Do you think I should Help, too?"

I laughed and hurried to answer quickly as I heard the click-clack of heels on the stairs behind me, "That's a choice for you, and you alone, to make. A lot of people don't help anyone, and some do. I can't tell you which one is right, only the one I chose," And she nodded in response before diving back into her book with a satisfied smile on her face. As I turned to the door I stopped mid-motion as I noticed all of her books were related to Grimm, but seeing no issue with it met Janette at the door.

"Sorry I took so long," Janette explained as she came back up the stairs, "I had to recharge the batteries on the Radio, which takes a minute. We have to use the Landlines and Radios since the CCT came down, and the amount of times you have to charge these things is ridiculous," She waved a metallic box with an antenna in my direction, "Use Channel 2 and you'll get in touch with Team STRQ as well as a few Teachers from Beacon, who've been helping around the City."

I nodded in Thanks before pressing the button and barking into the receiver, "Team STRQ, say something if you hear this," Who would have guessed, my etiquette was rusty.

The machine Crackled to life in my hand, and a static charged voice responded with equal care for formality, " _What do you want?_ " a feminine voice I immediately placed as the taller Girl of the Team barked back.

"How fast can you get to the Library?"

" _Within the Hour. Somebody dying?_ "

I snorted at the blunt tone, as well as the whining voices that were carried through, "Without your Help? Definitely."

The response came with little to no hesitation, " _On our way._ "

Then the radio was silent and I assumed they began to move towards my position, but the Radio came to life with much less flare than before, " _Hello, This is Professor Ozpin of Beacon Academy, May I ask who is on this Channel?_ " I looked over at Janette who nodded before walking out and dealing with the rest of the temporary residents of the shelter.

I shrugged, as without Team STRQ (or more specifically a single member of the group) I had nothing else to do, so I answered, "Name's Austin."

There was a pause, and after a moment he came back on, " _And why are you on this Channel?_ "

"Organizing a Mass Evacuation, and I need someone who can lead them better than I can," because leaving me to lead _anything_ was a great way to get things messed up. I couldn't even talk to children, let alone a mass of full grown adults effectively.

There was another pause before the much smoother voice came back over the Radio with understanding, " _So you called for Miss Rose, A good choice indeed. If me or my partner were not currently indisposed we would Help as well, though you'll have to excuse me if we are a tad late._ "

"Sure, but if you do find the time do make your way to the tunnels. Pretty sure we're gonna need all the Help we can get," and with that it laid silent once more, though this time was much more final as I walked out of the office and towards the front door. I had noticed during the brief exchange that a few of the dots outside had briefly lit up Red on my Mini-Map, so I wasn't very surprised to find a rather large scuffle breaking out in front of the building. Janette was attempting to get in between a few of the Attendees to tonight's Fight, but was finally pushed backwards and landed heavily on the ground by the bottom of the Stairs.

I set my face in my best Scowl and used [ **Project Bloodlust** ] on all those involved, and I was rewarded with the entire Crowd of Level 4's and 5's coming to a complete Halt, as well as a notification stating that it had leveled up. The Crowd began to Sweat as I continued to pump the Skill, before Suddenly stopping the Assault, with a sweeping sigh of relief from those who had been affected.

"What seems to be the Issue here?" I called as I calmly stepped forward, and the Guards of the Library backed off but the newcomers remained where they stood. One in particular took a few steps forward and pointed a thick sausage link of a finger at me.

"Someone said that they're blowing the Tunnels, and that the ones trying to get us out of here were in this building, but these Dickweeds wouldn't let us in."

I looked up at the Nametag floating above his head before even considering what to say, and the words told me everything I needed to know about the man.

[ **George Herder** ]

[ **Level 7 Driver** ]

[ **Dedicated Father** ]

"Alright, a few things first; The Tunnels and the easiest way to safety with them are being blown tomorrow, No one is getting out of here unless we work together, and I'm the fuck who called you here," I clarified as I stepped towards him and jabbed a finger into his chest, happy to see him only gritting his teeth at me, "Now, There is a Team of Hunters on their way here to lead as many Civilians as they can to the Tunnels leading to Vale. I'm going ahead to clear a path and remove any obstacles I can."

I looked around and noticed that the entire crowd, looking close to two hundred adults, were listening closely, but I decided to focus on Mister Herder in front of me instead, "Sir, why are you here? You got something to fight for?" I pointed out at the crowd and then the library, "So do all of the rest, and fightin' each other ain't gonna help _anyone_ here."

I raised my voice to be heard above the din of the crowd, "Look people, I'm blowin' a hole for you all to get out through. I just need all of you to work as a unit, and get as many people as you can through to the other side. Anyone tries to stop you or anybody else, you stop _them_. I expect to see most of you on the other side," And with that I leapt out of the group, hurtling over their heads to get to my own job. Honestly, I wasn't built for Talking, but I was uniquely suited for my actual job.

I just needed to stop for some Gas.

* * *

It was a busy Base I came upon, all the vehicles gone or moving towards the entrance of the Tunnels, which were hidden behind stocky, squat buildings that practically _screamed_ government funding. There were patrols of a few soldiers dotting the premises and they wore the standard drab grey and brown fatigues that the Valean Military wore. The base was sequestered against the Main Wall of the City, and from the Towering Wall came a smaller and less secure wall, meant more as a boundary than a true fortification.

The sounds of motions came from further down the Slope up to my ears, at the end of which laid the entrances of the Tunnels a good hundred or so feet below the Level of the rest of the City. The echoes of activity resounded past me and made it extremely easy to find the place even without any detection skills.

With a groan the overburdened Pickup Truck stopped moving just before the top of the Slope, and I began to prepare for the most vital part of any introduction; The entrance.

I grabbed the nearest few Bottles filled with gasoline from the stack and replaced the makeshift corks with a rag before placing it on the ground at my feet and spending the next few minutes removing caps and stops, and then dumping a can of Gas on the entire bed of the truck, which was currently holding just under a thousand pounds of salvaged Gasoline. I then unfurled the tarp I had… Stolen, like straight up took from someone's car, and tied the dull green sheet to the Back bumper of the Truck.

And then I stepped back and pushed the Truck over the edge of the ramp.

I could see the sentries watching the Truck as it began to pick up speed and careened towards the Front Gate. My assertion that the base wasn't exactly prepared for a full-scale Assault was verified by the fact that they didn't even start demanding the thing stop before it was seconds from impact, though that's more of a statement on the sentries. I then threw myself fairly close to the Front Gate and pulled out a lighter and setting the rags of my impromptu molotovs alight before throwing them at the Truck.

To their credit, the Guards on Duty had taken the initiative to start things off politely by taking potshots at me while I was lighting the things, but There isn't much you could do against what was equivalent to fifteen hundred sticks of Dynamite going off in their face. I threw myself to the ground and covered by ears as I braced for impact.

The shockwave of wind produced by the explosion sent me Tumbling a few feet backwards, and I was over sixty feet away from it. The entire Front Gate basically sublimated or evacuated under the force, and anyone unfortunate to be within forty feet of the explosion was was sent flying in various states of unhealthy. Those guards who had taken shots at me and the towers they had been in were no longer standing, and I stiffly pulled myself to my feet and watched on my map as the plurality of dots began to converge on one building in particular before heading straight towards the front gate.

A feral smirk came across my features as I launched myself up and over the now burning husk of Truck and landed on the opposite side of the compound, deciding to go as quiet as possible while they dealt with the mayhem. I landed in a roll on the roof of the first building I found and slipped off the side to land quietly and painfully on the ground near the door. I watched from the side of the building as all of the soldiers began to stream towards the Gate or other various Defensive positions, but on my Mini-Map I noticed a group of Dots that were both White and unmoving.

I decided to check them out, and after every dot had finally settled for a minute or two I quickly made my way towards the building, which was much more flat and spread out than any of the other BUildings on the compound. I ignored the Commands and orders being shouted out near the Orange pillar that was what was left of the Front Gate and stole away into the Factory lit building instead. I found a front lobby abandoned, but also a barred gate left ajar behind the Reception desk. Behind the Gate I could see cells upon cells, most of which were filled. I entered the Halls of what seemed to be a prison, finding many faces pressed to the bars of their cells.

"Who're you, our executioner?" came a gruff call from a nearby cell, as well as solemn chuckles from other inmates. Inside stood a man of about his forties with military length Blonde Hair and dull blue eyes, Standing a little taller than I did as well as a little wider in the gut, but he was obviously well built. His face was also showing his years, as well as the stress of being imprisoned.

[ **Charles Schug** ]

[ **Level 12 Commander** ]

[ **Moral Orienteer** ]

"I just came in here to make sure that I wasn't burning _innocent_ people," I told him bluntly as I kept an eye on the door while making my way towards his Cell, "So what are you in for?" His eyes bore into mine when I looked at him, but I went back to staring at the door as I waited for an answer. My conscience was already going to eat me alive for burning a bunch of soldiers just for doing their jobs, so I was taking steps to try and be moral.

Finally after a moment her huffed a sigh and answered, "We're here because we refused to leave our charges to burn in a forsaken city, and for our punishments they're leaving us in these cells while they leave," His voice dripped with disdain, "They even took our Leader with them as a scapegoat, they plan on blaming him for basically the fall of the Mount," He turned to the side and spit before he continued in a low gravelly drawl, "The Fucking _Cowards._ " The rest of the people in their cells grunted or voiced their assent, "And now I hear you're burning down the place, and the thought that all of my commanding officers might go down with it only brings me joy."

This got a response from the rest of his fellow inmates as some yelled or roared their agreement and some began to pound on their doors, and I smiled a vicious smile, "Sounds like you want out," The roaring grew, and the building that held no more than fifty inmates might as well have been filled to the rafters, but I turned to the Commander and addressed him directly. "I'm trying to clear out the route to the Tunnels for a group of Civilians bearing down on it, or at the very least distract those _fucks_ guarding it. You guys want to help?"

The smile that came over Charles' face felt very familiar to me, as the corners didn't quite reach the eyes and the eyes didn't hold any happiness. It was the smile of a predator that promised pain and fury, and one I wore often. He answered slowly and carefully as he looked me in the eye and Nodded. I went back to the Front Desk and began rooting around to find a set of keys while the howling and baying of the dogs I was about to uncage reached a fever pitch.

Then I found a red button marked as Emergency: Fire and Pushed it like my life depended on it. The moment the button was pressed a claxon erupted in the building and I heard every single cell door slide open with simultaneous creaks. I saw upon my Mini-Map that a few Dots were now headed our way, and as they were soldiers I couldn't exactly expect incompetency on either side of this fight.

For example I heard the Commander begin to Rally his troops as he marched in the Warden's office and tear the place apart in search for weapons, so I decided to buy them time.

If the ground beneath my feet cracked when I initiated the [ **Power Jump** ], then it all but shattered and cratered upon my landing, as well as the unfortunate Soldier I had chosen to land upon.

The surprised gasps and intakes of breath went unheard as a inhuman roar of rage left my mouth and my weapon whipped into and _through_ the nearest enemy. I felt my feral smile crawl back onto my face as every single red dot swivelled and began to move towards me.

* * *

 **Skill Learned; Panic!**

" _ **Well, you aren't the ugliest thing I've ever seen. I've also seen your mother.**_ "

 **Depending on relative level and threat level, as well as active Cha modifiers, targeted individuals will become aggressive towards you. Inflicts the [Taunted] Status.**

 **1% More Damage taken and dealt to those with the [Taunted] Status.**

* * *

" _ **COME GET SOME!**_ " I roared into the small army of soldiers flooding around corners, equipped with a variety of Weapons. With the amount of barrels being pointed my way, I was suddenly very glad to have taken the [ **Juggernaut** ] Perk.

And at least the Night was shaping up to be interesting if nothing else.

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

"Men!" Commander Schug called sternly, and every single one of the imprisoned men stilled and turned to listen. "We have been given a second chance this day. We were tricked into imprisonment, tricked into our early graves as those that were supposed to support us would leave us in this godforsaken town to rot while they gathered their precious things and left. Those out there made their choice just as we made ours, and now we've got to put ourselves behind our words. The world saw fit to send us our second chance, as we're free once more," The crowd of one hundred and six men and women, human and faunus, cheered in response to his words, he waited for it to settle before raising a hand to call for silence. As they settled down an unearthly roar rolled over the building followed by a hail of bullets and explosions, and while some looked rattled they soon rallied and he spoke once more. "Out there, there is a young man, the same one who just freed us, who is fighting for the same reason we were locked away. He seeks to open the Tunnels, or at the very least to get as many people through to the other side as possible, and I mean to help him along." The building was quickly filled with the roars of agreement and the sounds of makeshift weapons being beaten against bars, but they quieted enough for him to yell over him, his voice going hoarse, but he kept speaking, "I Mean to Fight!" Another Roar, and he echoed the noise before rushing out the front door with shock baton of the Warden in Hand.

What he found on the other side was mayhem, a pillar of fire and smoke erupting from the charred remains of the Front gate, a little under three hundred soldiers firing at one figure who went through the swathes of soldiers one at a time, and the unlucky few who were caught in friendly fire as soldiers tried to target their attacker. The young man took all the blows the Commander taught his soldiers to avoid, but retaliated in a way that left no room for doubt that he was the stronger. As some nearby soldiers began to take potshots he unholstered a Pistol from his Back and began to fire into the crowd at random, sending those fearing it diving to the ground or pierced by a _Large_ Handgun and it's scything Counterpart.

As the newly freed 35th battalion charged towards the battle, all of their Auras climbing high as the Commander's Semblance kicked in, they saw that the battle was going in their favor, more due to friendly fire than anything else.

And then suddenly the footsoldiers quickly retreated from the Fight, and the Bloody Man stood in the middle of the Circle, with his head turned to the side and a look of confusion on his face. And then the 2nd Armored Division Came into view, their prototype Fighting Suits equipment being used to give them an advantage in Melee and Speed. The White suits let the men stand above twelve feet tall and cover great distances in a few strides, and they were the standard of Atlesian Eradication Units, renowned for their destructive capability.

The Young man wasn't military, and the Commander's eyes widened as his legs crouched down low and his weapon, a thick roll of chain, slowly curled back up his hand. He made to call out to the young man, to run before the threat, before he _Launched_ himself the remaining hundred feet between himself and their Point Breaker, the Brigadier General Aurelio himself, and struck with the force of a wrecking ball. The boy sent the thing skidding back and cracking under the force of his blow before he was upon it with an overhead slam of his fists that flattened the Pilot's Bay in an explosive and slightly gory show of force.

As the rest of the Forty strong Division slowed as their leader was now dead or getting there, the Roar, which the Commander had thought to belong to a nearby Grimm, erupted from the youth and every troop in the Area covered their ears. He paid no attention as the source threw himself at his enemies, who were wearing armor strong enough to tank Boarbatusks going their max speed without a scratch, and toppling them with punches and kicks.

Suddenly he was dealing with the single biggest threat on the base, and the Commander took the opportunity to show the remaining footmen and leaders why they had to release knockout gas in his troops bunks to subdue them, as well as why they were known as the Burning Battalion.

A roar swept his ranks, and every surging aura became a fiery orange-red hue as one, before they were upon their enemies. Even with broken pieces of metal and then confiscated guns without ammo, his troop would win a battle. His Semblance removed the fear of death or worse as they gained his protection and boon, and began to rampage through the Soldiers, much in the same way their savior was making his way through the Armored Division.

Savagely.

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

 **Austin Stáin**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Lvl 16: 1520/1600 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp:** **21391.04** **HP Regen: 96 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm:** **1215.4** **, Stm Regen: 34 Stm/Sec**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (90) 95**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 29**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (118) 123**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 6**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 64**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 531.7**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage (Stamina Only):** **9014.2**

 **Pistol Atk:** **190.9**

 **Def: Phys; 70%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[?]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill.** _ **Inherited from ?.**_

 **[?]; ?. Inherited from ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_ **[Hidden Modifier of +15 Base on Attraction Value].**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent.**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Enduring];** _**I can still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut]; For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **Class Bonuses:**

 **+2 Con, +2 Res, +1 Str, and +1 Dex Per Level.**

 **+50% Movement Speed towards Injured Friendlies.**

 **-2 Cha and -2 Int per Level.**

 **-100% Renown points gained, Reset to Zero, Replaces Renown Title With [Helper].**

 **-25% Monetary and Loot Rewards from Quests.**

 **Skills:**

 _ **Combat:**_

 **-Brawling! Level 36; 22% to next level.**

 _ **I fight like I eat; Aggressively.**_

 **A sloppy Hand to Hand style focused on raw physicality over finesse.**

 **Skill gives access to all Techniques used and observed by the Skill.**

 **+180% to all damage done with this Skill.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second**

 **-Chain Mastery. Level 18; 22.3%**

 _ **The Weapon of Goons world-wide, learn to be the ultimate goon.**_

 **+90% Atk while a Chain is equipped.**

 **-Pistol Mastery, Level 4;**

 _ **The gun of Protagonists and Trash Enemies worldwide, I wonder which one you are?**_

 **+20% Atk With a pistol.**

 **+40% Critical Damage with a Pistol.**

 **+10% Accuracy with Pistols.**

 **+Lvl/5 Extra Rounds per reload.**

 **-Explosives Mastery, Level 11;**

 _ **I actually wanted to be a Florist, ya know.**_

 **+55% Atk when using explosives.**

 **+55% time when disabling an explosive.**

 **-Thundering Blow (Tier 2), Level 6;**

 _ **The World shall know the Strength of Storms in my Wake.**_

 **For every point of Stm spent, increase the physical damage of one Attack or Skill by 1.3%.**

 **Skill Branched;**

 **-Power Throw; Level 2.**

 _ **Kobe for accuracy, Yeet for Power. YEET!**_

 **Thrown projectiles now have 55% of the Power Attack benefit.**

 **-Rend; Level 5.**

 _ **Rip and Tear**_

 **Bonus Damage to Inanimate Materials, do 100% more with Power Attack.**

 **Triples Stm Cost.**

 **-Blocking. Level Max;**

 _ **"Did you tell her about your Herpes?"**_

 **The Art of Blocking an attempt.**

 **(Active) Costs (Dmg-Con) Stm/Block.**

 **Blocks 95% of damage on a successful Block.**

 **-Skill Learned: Mitigation, Level 23.**

 _ **Pain is as temporary as it is annoying.**_

 **Take 46% less physical Damage.**

 **-Skill learned: Grapple, Level 2;**

 _ **You're mine now, I've literally got you by the Balls!**_

 **Deal 90% less damage than a normal attack, but inflict [Grappled] Status upon foe.**

 **-Skill Learned: Adrenaline Rush, Level 5;**

 _ **Feel the Burn!**_

 **Burn Hp to restore Stm, ratio of 12 Hp:1 Stm.**

 **Using over 77% of Health for this skill grants the Status [Strain].**

 **-Skill Learned; Second Wind, Level 3;**

 _ **Put me back in Coach!**_

 **Burn Stm to restore Hp, ratio of 1:3.**

 **-Splash, Level 4;**

 _ **Splish, Splash, I was takin' a bath.**_

 **Physical Attacks now have an increased area of effect.**

 **Area of impact increased by a 1.2 Modifier.**

 **Panic!, Level 1**

" _ **Well, you aren't the ugliest thing I've ever seen. I've also seen your mother.**_ "

 **Depending on relative level and threat level, as well as active Cha modifiers, targeted individuals will become aggressive towards you. Inflicts the [Taunted] Status.**

 **1% More Damage taken and dealt to those with the [Taunted] Status.**

 _ **Movement:**_

 **-Running! Level 17;**

 _ **Run Bitch Run, Dey gonna get you!**_

 **Move at 290% of your base movement speed.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/sec.**

 **Maximum running Speed: 6.67 mph**

 **-Skill Learned: Power Jump! Level 14;**

 _ **If**_ **that** _**bird shat on your car it'd dent the Hood.**_

 **Through pure physicality Soar through the Air.**

 **Costs 37 Stm to jump your Str in Feet, Current base Distance 56 feet.**

 **Costs 79 Stm to Jump twice your Str in Feet.**

 **Costs 121 Stm to Jump Thrice your Str in Feet.**

 **Stm = N*37 + (N-1)*5, where N is the Coefficient of your strength, to reach N*Str Feet. -Skill Branched: Lunge, Level 8.**

 _ **Easy, Tiger.**_

 **Deal 180% of Attack after travelling a distance equal to your [Power Jump].**

 _ **Detection:**_

 **-Skill Learned: Detect Bloodlust, Level 16.**

 _ **Is it just me or does it feel a little Deadly in here?**_

 **Detection Range: 48 feet.**

 **-Skill Branched: Project Bloodlust, Level 10.**

 **(Res*2-EnemyRes)% Chance to Inflict [Stun] Status.**

 **Target must have at least (20-.5*Lvl) 15 Wisdom to be affected.**

 **Costs 20 Stm/sec.**

 **+Skill Learned: Instinct, Level 14 (Tier 2).**

 _ **My eyes are one of five senses I can use, so why rely on just one?**_

 **(Passive) Detection: 67% chance of detecting (increase to Passive 30%) [Stealthed] Units.**

 **(Active) Detection*(1+.5*Level) = *8, move at ½ Movement Speed while Active. If still, double the effect.**

 **Base Range = 140 feet.**

 **Senses: Hearing, Smell/Taste.**

 _ **Passives:**_

 **-Skill Learned: Physical Conditioning, Level 4.**

 _ **Got Gains, Bro.**_

 **Increase Str and Con by Lvl %.**

 **Current Increase = + 4%**

 **-Skill Tree: Veteran Intuition:**

 **.5% increase in damage dealt and .25% decrease in damage received from this Enemy type.**

 **-Enemies Encountered;**

 **Hooligans Level 21: 10.5% increase , 5.25% decrease.**

 **Organized Criminals Level 14: 7% increase, 3.5% decrease.**

 **Pack-Type Grimm Level 4: 2% increase, 1% decrease.**

 **Roamer-Type Grimm Level 1: .5% increase, .25% decrease.**

 **Trapper-Type Grimm Level 1: .5% increase, .25% decrease.**

 **Flier-typer Grimm Level 1: .5% increase, .25% decrease.**

 **-Skill Learned: Intimidation; Level 6.**

 _ **You don't want to see me angry.**_

 **For every 5% of health the target is missing, 6% more likely to answer a question honestly.**

 _ **Tedium (No notification):**_

 **-Skills Learned: First Aid, Level 5;**

 _ **That doesn't look quite right, the arm bone connects to the Shoulder bone, right?**_

 **Heal yourself or another when not in enemy line of sight or sustaining damage.**

 **Heal 25 Hp/Sec, requires appropriate medical supplies and 4 Stm/Sec.**

 **-Sewing, Level 7:**

 _ **Should have listened to Nan.**_

 **Restore Cloth Item Durability 6% per Level, requires Needle and Thread**

 **-Computer Science. Level 18;**

 **+36% words per minute typed.**

 **Words per minute =(1+.02(Lvls of Computer Science)(80+(Int*3)) = 112.8 Words per minute.**

* * *

 _To my dear Guest Reader Alex and any that think like him or have similar criticisms, I have decided to include a small note to readers to explain a few mechanics that were innate in the story and therefore not very well explained. Intelligence and Wisdom are actually the key perception stats of the story, not Dex and Agi as noted in the review, and any noticable change in views or perspective would come from these two._

 _Wis is also the main Stat involved with implementing Status effects, determining potency and duration for everything except for a few Status moves that do not rely on understanding to use. Int is the base stat for Elemental Damages, including Explosives, and governs that entire school of Damage._

 _Dex and Agi both have very different jobs in the Game System, Dex pertaining to both Accuracy and efficiency of movement or stability as well as the Critical Target and Damage Modifier, and finally the Damage of Projectile Weapons. On the other Hand, Agi has only one expressed purpose; The ability to go_ _ **Fast**_ _. It controls the ability of the body to accelerate to and maintain speed and the universal cooldown modifier for physical Skills, as well as having a_ _ **hidden**_ _modifier that is very useful; Momentum Modifier._

 _The Momentum Modifier is that which gives characters such as Ruby in the show and Taylor in the Story there Damage, as for 1 mph you are moving at the time if delivering an attack or the average speed over a "Casting Period" accrues 1% more Melee Damage upon use of a technique._

 _The Reflex Modifier is a combination of Dex and Agi and is the ability to react to unknown attacks or effects or the natural Dodge of a character, and is actually one of the most heavily used mechanics by the more lithe characters that will appear in the story. The Reaction is not based on perception and usually has the effect of activating the most used defensive skill in a character's repertoire, such as Austin frequently does with Block, though it should be known that his low Agi contributes to the amount of Damage that bleeds through on First strikes against him. This is due to the non-existent Cooldown modifier for physical Skills, as mentioned before._

 _This Follows with the way Damage is seen by the game, as the Hp Statistic is one that signifies how much force can be applied to an object/character before being Broken/Killed. In the same way that Damage could be used as a measurement of force as opposed to an arbitrary number relative to Hp Pool._

 _Also, in case the way that the story was written (from the perspective of someone who has little need for hindsight) Austin has the Worst case of Blinders I could make, and his history will continue to be unfolded along the story and is the most fun to write._

 _And in response to the Nerfing request, consider your request complied with, though not by any fault of your own. The Game has removed the Training Wheels from Austin, and it's not just an expression in this case. A Hidden Status effect to his person has been removed and now that he is outside of the Tutorial he will begin to Draw attention and Aggressive response to his actions. The Limb Damage Suggestion was a good one, and one I had considered before as I thought out the natural progression of his build, and even implemented to a smaller degree in Chapter 5. As the Arm is about ten percent of the body, breaking an entire arm is considered about ten percent of a character's Hp, and the time required to regrow it is equal to the time required to heal the Hp, along with an effect that disables the Limb from moving without losing Hp for it._

 _Hence why in the Fight against Sal he is left using only Left arm, as he busted the Right in the beginning._

 _Any way I hope that addresses the Review(s) of My boi Alex, and I further thank anyone who has decided to follow, favorite, or Review this Story._

 _For those not concerned with this aspect of the story or unconcerned with the ins and outs of a system you will never have to utilize, fair enough. For reading this Far I have decided to include a tad bit of trivia for the creation of the character in the middle of this story._

 _I rolled dice for the creation of the Main Character. It was a toss up between Austin, a dex and Cha based Bard/Rogue Build, the normie Int and Wis built Wizard type, and a Con and Dex Sniper Build. All of the Options would have had the +2 to their concerned Stats, and bonuses to a Skill designed to make their Builds more effective._

 _I then Rolled for the Inherited Trait/Caregiver, between the [Iron Will] Trait, a Trait that made it easier to go undetected and have a little bonus to sneak attack damage, a Trait that gave access to the [Bibliophagy] Skill, a trait that would have sped up the development of a few plot points significantly (and made writing this much easier), a trait that gave bonuses to the yet unimplemented [Crafting] System, and a Trait that would have decreased Stamina costs for skills._

 _Then I flipped a coin for Human versus Faunus, and had it landed Tails for Faunus I would have rolled for the decision of Animal Strain, which all have pros and Cons similar to the first choices._

 _And for the Record, I designed the system before I knew what direction I was taking the Character, so the fact that a system that was supposed to favor casters and Fast Individuals can be equally utilized by the Str Con tank (with extreme min-maxing) to the degree of being busted means that the other characters probably would have been even worse for the Viewing Audience._

 _On another note, and the Final One, Thanks for reading and giving whatever feedback you can. If you enjoy the story and would recommend it others on the Site, please favorite or Follow because it's basically an anonymous recommendation, and if you don't enjoy it feel free to leave a review telling me how I can improve._

 _Alright, I've said my piece. Jericho Out._


	8. Prologue: Part 7

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _It was an odd thing to try and understand for me, as I had been punished each and every time I was in a fight by some authority figure or another. I was currently in the admissions office for the Mount Glenn Preparatory School for Huntsmen, as I had become the first person in the history of forever that had managed to be violent enough to be expelled from the Juvenile detention center, and I was only Fourteen years old. Now Nan was using whatever favors she had to get the staff to allow me in to the best school for "Violent little shits" like me, as she so eloquently put it._

 _And as it was just before the beginning of the School Year, there were other prospective students in the Lobby waiting as well. It was odd to see the anxiety written upon the faces of those that sat around me as their parents continued to give them last minute pointers for the school._

 _Or more importantly the Entrance exam that every student, myself included, were required to take. Which was odd because most of the school was devoted to the less combat oriented aspects of dealing with huntsmen, and the majority of students were here for non-combat training._

 _When I heard an almighty crack and the immediate sound of crying erupt from behind the door they had taken the last pair of prospective students, I knew that they would come for the next. And they did, though it wasn't I that they came for for a long while. In fact it seemed that I was to be saved for last, along with a young girl that sat across from me in the Lobby. It became apparent that she was also there without her parents, and we just settled into a staring contest of sorts as the second to last bout came to a close. And then, she smiled a vicious smile at me as they came to collect us, and I simply shook my head at her in response._

 _As we stepped out onto the stage and moved towards opposite sides of the stage where they directed us, I noticed that the judges panel all wore a small bit of armor and wore their weapons on their person, making it obvious that they were at least fighters in their own right and therefore less likely to be fooled by someone looking to cheat their way in._

 _I calmly removed most unnecessary clothing from my person, before turning to meet the fiery gaze of the girl I was set against. When the referee explained the rules, that the first to be knocked out or give up in the match lost, neither of us verbally responded. When he looked between us he shrugged and called the beginning of the match._

 _I slowly stomped towards the center of the ring in a defensive guard even as my opponent dashed towards me, and only years of experience stopped the punch that came towards my kidney from connecting. I responded by ramming my shoulder into her sternum and then we fell into a flurry of blows, and for some reason neither one of us saw fit to claim defeat._

 _The thrill of Battle, not of the fight for survival or the small diddy it played for playground tiffs, **sung** in my veins and my blood bubbled in response. With each blow I threw her way she became better at dodging and with every blow I took the better I became at moving with it to mitigate the damage. I don't know how long it had been since the start of the spar, but I had a split lip and rapidly swelling eye while she sported a broken nose and a nasty gash above her right eye that was dripping into her eye. She was breathing hard enough that each gasp shook her frame and her hair that once been in perfect order now hung around her head and in front of her face, but her eyes still had the same fire in them._

 _With a lunge she closed the distance and caught my arm as I swung the appendage towards her face. She began to climb me like a jungle gym until she had a leg around my throat while she tried to hold my right arm out straight in a pseudo-arm bar before using her legs to try and choke me out. I growled to the best of my ability before jumping up as high as I could before turning to the right and landing on my elbow, as well as her stomach. And finally she laid quiet enough for me to stand above her and telegraph a heavy slam of my fists. Her eyes widened before she quickly slapped the pads underneath her._

 _I landed to the side of her with a crash upon the mats, and stood up straight before her, where she laid on the ground panting and glaring up at me, before offering her a hand with a smile. She gave me a sardonic quirk of the lip as she accepted the help up and once she was on her feet we both turned to the judges, who were regarding us with a bit of incredulity before informing us that we were both cleared to enter the Huntsman Training Program._

 _I laughed in their faces, as well as my more than worthy opponent's, before informing exactly why I had felt the need to laugh._

 _"I came here to study programming!"_

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

'They have Mech-suits,' I thought as I grit my teeth and braced for the Metallic claw that slammed into my back, but I finished the destruction of the cockpit of my prey before switching targets. I jumped over the swinging limb to slam my aching hand into the glass between me and the pilot. It stumbled back and I used the brief respite to finish my thought, 'I should get a mech suit.' The Mechanical Humanoid stomped back towards me and swung it's long arm towards my head.

I slammed my fist into the joint of the Mechanical Monstrosity that came at me, happy to see the Servo in the joint give under the force, before using my pistol to shoot the joint that acted as the knee of the thing as well. Finally, as it came crashing heavily to the ground I launched myself into the small bubble that housed the pilot with an impact that would've broken bones had I not used [Osteogenesis: Hardening] before starting the assault. The Casing of the Bubble collapsed inwards until the Pilot was crushed from the pressure.

I stood atop the machine panting as winded thoughts flowed through my mind. 'Goddamn those things Hurt,' I mused as my Health slowly climbed up from where it had stopped going down at just a hair below a tenth left. I could barely find the energy to scoff as two Notifications appeared in front of my face.

* * *

 **Achievements Unlocked: Destroyer!**

 **I mean, I have won a few debates with my fists, though.**

 **Deal 25000 Physical Damage.**

 **Rewards; + 5 % Base Attack Damage, the Fist Whisperer Title, and +3 Free Points.**

 **-Tanky;**

 **I Just got hit by what felt like a train going supersonic. So, yeah I think I can take a few Hits.**

 **Receive 25000 base Damage (And Survive).**

 **Rewards; + 5% Hp, + 10% Hp Regen, the Main Tank Title, and + 3 Free Points.**

* * *

 **Mechanic Unlocked: Titles!**

 **Now that you have unlocked a Title, you must have one equipped at all times. This signifies what you see your role as and influences thought patterns usually in small ways to help you achieve the role you have selected. Good Luck!**

 **Available Titles:**

 **-[Fist Whisperer]; A master of Physical combat, one who seeks to win at any costs.**

 **-[Main Tank]; A master of Defense of all kinds, one who seeks survival at any costs.**

* * *

I sighed and shook my head at the thought of this Game influencing my mind even more, and then snarled at the thought of spending every waking moment chasing a fight, just as I had the entirety of the last week and a half. That Shit was exhausting, and I was having none of it. Besides, [Main Tank] was my old Gaming Handle before the Fall, so Nostalgia and self-interest decided for me.

I hopped lightly off of my current mound of metallic enemies and slid down the smoother parts until hitting the ground in a run. The prisoner-soldiers I had released were finishing up their sweep through the ranks of those that had imprisoned them, and they each had a ring of fire that wrapped around them and gave them a fury that brought weapons strength unknown to most. I stopped running as I spotted the visage of the Commander I had spoken to in the cells and made my way to him. A soldier that he was talking to saw me coming their way and pointed me out before they made their way to me.

The soldier smiled heartily and slapped a hand on my shoulder in a friendly gesture before walking off to meet with his comrades, and the Commander himself walked towards me with a satisfied smile that was nothing short of Triumphant. "I see that you are as good as your word my friend," he addressed me as he got closer, "I have a feeling that I and my troop would've been fighting an uphill battle had we encountered the Armored Division in Battle, so I must thank you for dealing with them for us." He bowed at the waist before standing straight and gesturing in the direction of both the Remains of the apparent Armored Division and the Front Gate, "And so expertly, as well! And now I, as the Leader of this rabble, am in your debt twice over."

"Shove it," I interrupted before the long winded man could go on further, "If you owe me then help the Civilians currently making their way here get through the evac tunnels, Got it?" I thumped a finger in his chest and was rewarded with a determined nod. "Alright, if any of you can work the Comms, please tune into channel four on the radio and inform those listening that the Tunnels are open. If they ask who you are, tell them that Austin told you to contact them."

He nodded once more before he let his curiosity get the better of him, "What are you going to do that would stop you from getting in contact with your people?"

"I have something to handle, and I'm not the fastest of people," and I could see most of dots that until now had been placid were now red and moving either towards the burning base or north, towards where the civilians were supposed to gather. But before I could decide on what I wanted to do, as I hadn't planned this far ahead, a troubling Notification popped up in front of my face.

* * *

 **Quest Received: The Head of the Snake!**

 **Hiss Hiss in the Tunnels, means we got Tunnel Snakes.**

 **-With the Military Presence gone, there is no one to man the Western Front! Make your way there and prepare to fight!**

 **Rewards:**

 **-Success; 500 exp, + 2 Free Points, and the [Iron Skin] Skill.**

* * *

I scowled before letting my eyes go back to the Commander's face. "The shakin' and movin' got the Grimm up in a tizzy, and I need to deal with something..."

He acknowledged the point with a nod before clapping a hand on my shoulder with a smile, "Then I wish you luck, friend. We'll do what we can to protect the Civilians on our end, for what it's worth."

"Thanks Commander, and I suggest being as polite as possible. They aren't going to react well to anyone wearing the Uniform."

His face twisted up into a bitter frown, "I don't blame them in the slightest, I find myself feeling the same. After this disaster I'm leaving the force, if I'll even be able to without violence."

'A lifetime of work shattered by one order,' I thought as he tried and failed to retain his earlier smile, "Do as you wish, Commander, but I gotta move. It was nice meeting you, though." I left rather calmly compared to how I entered the camp, with a chorus of thanks and a few salutes, before entering into a Full Speed Run after breaking the threshold of the base. I stayed low to pick up attention, even using [Thundering Blows] on my feet as I ran to make as much noise as possible. After only a minute or so I had nearly twenty Grimm on my Trail, and after a particularly Swift Creep Managed to close the distance I figured I had enough to begin my distraction.

The Level 9 Creep met my fist with a sound much like a gunshot, and the speed at which it was sent flying was pretty convincing as well. A Lunging Beowolf was met with my right arm being shoved into it mouth like the Reins of a Horse, jamming the jaw and giving me enough time to unfurl the Chain on my arm. The red fire in it's eyes guttered out to embers as my weapon cleaved it shoulder to hip. I stepped forward and the suddenly wary Grimm that had been following me ground to a halt with low growls, but I gave them no time to rethink their decisions as I flew towards them. I cut a bloody swath through the middling level Grimm, leaving only a pile of smoking corpses and myself breathing slightly hard.

Then I set off along the line on my Minimap, taking out as many Grimm as I could along the way.

* * *

Now that I could leap over buildings in single bounds, I found that the longer I spent in the air the weirder it became. For instance, if I went a hundred feet at an altitude of twenty feet then the air would feel relatively constant, but if I were jumping almost nine hundred feet at an altitude of about four hundred then I would destabilize from the uneven pockets of heat or moisture that I would inevitably hit. Which had been a painful lesson to learn the first time. It seemed as though my body was acting as a makeshift airplane and relied on Lift to be generated, somehow, and the change in pressure was enough to turn a fairly controlled motion into a pattern resembling a lame duck.

It had taken many a minute to heal the gnarled leg that had come from testing the new phenomena, but I found that it was worth it. I had also found that the direction of the jump didn't change at all during the messy maneuver, just my orientation in the air. Which was positively Nauseating.

Now, the good part of this development was that I had accidentally tapped into an ancient art of causing havoc.

* * *

 **Skill Branched; Smackdown.**

 **Some say that men there were once entire factions of men so strong that they were unable to hurt each other, and they decided to resolve their differences with this Skill.**

 **When landing deal Damage for the distance traveled; for every foot deal 2 Damage, in an area of Distance/100.**

* * *

It made my task of clearing smaller groups of Grimm much easier, as not only did it do Damage, it also sent them flying when they weren't expecting it. So I Landed and cleared before moving on, until almost an hour later I was coming up on the first few streets of the western side of the city. I also saw on my map that I was quickly coming up on a Group of Grimm intent on charging them, and I wasn't having it. I dumped nearly a third of Stamina to move the almost seven hundred feet in between us.

'It's a fairly large group,' I thought as I sailed over their heads, 'A good dozen Beowolf, five or six Ursa, and a smattering of other land-based Grimm,' and as I reached the apex of my arch I began to hear the roars of the more observant Grimm finally realizing they were being hunted, but I simply activated [Smackdown] and shot like a meteor down to the ground.

* * *

692 feet traveled, dealing 1384 Damage in a radius of 6.9 feet.

* * *

As I landed I could feel the bones in my legs straining to not simply break under the harsh conditions while the Steel Toed Boots I wore buried themselves an inch into the asphalt. But that was nothing compared to the Grief I had caused in the Grimm, most of whom had been bodily tossed around, some going straight up while others slammed into other Grimm earning roars and growls all around. I responded by slicing through the pitiful group of enemies, but seeing that most Grimm that were large enough to pose a problem individually were being repelled by the walls it was easier to keep them off the Civilians.

I turned to finish off the last enemy but it was caught in the lower jaw by a meaty shot, and it went down hard. I blinked at it before turning towards the origin of the shot, and found two men looking incredibly haggard, but unharmed. One stood tall and poised in a dark green suit with a much brighter scarf or something around his neck, and the graying hair on his head was light and fluttery about his head. He was staring at me over his sunglasses and doing his best to look in total control of the situation, and he would've managed it fairly well had it not been for his companion.

The other man was breathing heavily, but his eyes had fire in them that spoke of vigorous energy, and the blue eyes showed warmth before his eyebrows fell back in front of them. His moustache was quirked in a smile, as his mouth was nowhere to be seen. He stood even taller than the slighter and skinnier man, but almost all of his clothes were torn and ripped while the remains hung off of his extremely muscled frame. In his right hand he held a very broad axe with a barrel that was smoking at the end. Then he lowered it and chuckled a rumbling sound that marked the shearing of the last bits of his shirt, and the other interloper looked to the heavens and shook his head.

 **[Ozpin]**

 **[Lvl 208 Chessmaster]**

 **[Pragmatic]**

 **[Peter Port]**

 **[Lvl 48 Veteran Huntsman]**

 **[Spin a Yarn]**

'Which very clearly places these two at the top of the small "Do Not Fuck With" List,' I thought as the Shock of seeing such high level people left my system, "Thanks for the Assist, but I had it covered."

"Yes, Huntsmen with spirits like ours are often hard to take off guard!" The boisterous voice boomed throughout the now silent street, followed by an equally booming laughter, "But you must understand, when I see one of those rapscallions I simply have to fight them! I haven't been able to stop myself since I was a young lad!"

"It's true, he is known for his lack of self-control," came the much more measured tone of the much higher level man of the pair as he hopped lithely off the pile of rubble, "But I feel as though we've been rude. We are the Combat Instructors of Beacon Academy, myself being Professor Ozpin and my much more…" His head turned to the sky and searched the ash in the air for a hint before making eye contact once more, "Excitable companion, Professor Peter Port."

After a quick look at my Minimap and a noticeable lack of update or new notification even though I had reached the marked location, I relaxed and turned fully to address them. An easy smile slid over my face and my hands slid into the pockets of my Hoodie to lay on the confiscated ammo, "So you're the Professor, eh? You're not exactly what I was expecting," 'What a fucking package for such a dangerous person,' "But I suppose I shouldn't judge ya on your looks, because I ain't any type of beauty myself. My name's Austin, By the way."

The Professor's face flitted between expressions quickly, but it was too fast for me to follow. Instead he continued to walk towards me before stopping a few feet away, "Indeed, appearances can be deceiving."

I let my head lean to the side as I answered, thinking hard about what he said, "Sometimes, sure. But there's a reason people rely on sight so goddamn much, and it ain't because it's a bad approach," I finished the thought with a shrug.

He seemed perfectly happy to talk about something so inane, and as I was waiting for my Quest to update I was content to keep him company, but Professor Port let out a whine, and after a pointed stare at the other Professor, "Yes, Yes, Peter, Off you go. Don't let me stop your fun." The Large Teacher let out a hearty "Huzzah," along with a yell about preparing his syllabus, before we went back to our conversation, "I'll give you that the eyes are useful, and I'll even confess that I believe that they are the windows to the soul. In fact, I've made impressive strides in reading the soul through them."

I quirked an eyebrow at him as I pulled up the Quest Screen, only to see that the objective had been completed yet had not been replaced, like a cutscene in some games I played way back when (Two weeks at most), "I can't read eyes, which I guess makes me one of those unlucky bastards that can only speak one language. How's it go, certain colors mean one thing, other colors mean another?" I paused as my mind went off on a small tangent before quirking an eyebrow at the expert in the situation, "Is it racist to assume that certain Faunus have distinct pupil shapes?"

He laughed and leaned on his cane, "Not at all, that's simply an observation that is true. And there is also a slight amount of truth in your assertion relating to color, though less with the relevance to soul and more to genealogy. For instance, My green eyes came from my father, and I inherited his Semblance as well." 'Right. That thing. I felt like it was mentioned in the Combat classes, the same ones that I slept through. Quickly coming to regret that decision, but I had to rest before work in the evenings and it was in the past, so the entire point was moot,' "Though my Hair and Build are closer to my Mother's."

This had the feel of a conversation that needed to happen before I was allowed to continue the quest, but I'll be damned before I let anything force me to do anything with enthusiasm and responded with a bored and sarcastic, "Interesting."

If he was put out, he was very good at hiding it.

He waved his open hand towards me with a wan smile, "I've found that a lot of information can be acquired simply by thinking through knowing what you're made of. Let's take take you for example, Your eyes are very similar to a few I've seen before, though…" He trailed off as he removed his glasses and his eyes narrowed for a moment, "They are definitely different. The red eyes I've had the pleasure to observe are often dull in shine, noting a more passive role in the world or how they approach it, closer to the color seen in pools of blood than yours, usually associated with a violent or even murderous soul, and most definitely were a shade off of Brown or Flint. Yours… are not."

I nodded and shrugged with a chuckle, "I've noticed that myself, actually."

He continued, almost as though in a trance as he made eye contact with me and I raised an eyebrow in response, "They're Vibrant, full of life, but so full of Fury. So much like the Grimm, but so unlike them at the same time. I've…" His eyes widened slightly, "I've never seen eyes like these before."

I snorted at the incredulity in his voice, "That's alright, you can't be expected to know every word in such an obscure language, Don't beat yourself up too much." Honestly, he looked like a man that took himself too seriously as it was.

After a moment of silent contemplation he suddenly changed topics, "What brings you here, Young man?" His voice had lost a lot of the life that it had held only a minute before, but I answered nonetheless.

"I have team STRQ escorting the civilians through the Tunnels, and I opened them up for their use, but I knew that without a military presence in the area someone would have to hold their attention while the Civvies left," I shrugged, now that I saw that the professors had been over here it seemed that my presence was irrelevant, "So here I am, trying to be that someone. If I'm honest though, I feel like there is something else behind this entire situation than an accident."

He nodded with a small frown, "Indeed, it seems as though one Doctor Merlot of Merlot Industries had been planning this for a long time, though it seems to have gotten out from under him. He was experimenting on Grimm, trying to make them better killing machines. Even going so far as to try and augment the beasts with machines or Dust."

"Right," I interrupted with a snap of my fingers as a memory clicked into place, "I fought a Beowolf infused with Fire Dust. The thing hit like a Dump truck and lit me on fire. It was pretty nasty."

"Abominations of the highest order, and actually the reason we were heading back to the Tunnels, we wished to appeal to the Commandant of the Base that such crazy creatures exist. I had hoped that they would be more lenient in their decision after the news."

I smirked as I thought of the Base and its current state, "Well, you should make your way there, and you shouldn't find much resistance from the ones holding it now. I convinced them to help me evacuate the city," The smirk was a tad vicious before sobering, "And I'd feel much better if you did make your way over there some time today."

"Hmm, I would as well, though it looks like everything is under control. And I have one last question about eyes, yours specifically. When you look at me, what do you see?"

I laughed openly at such an odd question, and since I was feeling jovial decided to actually acknowledge the words that floated above his head, after spending almost half a month ignoring them whenever I could. "Hmm," came my falsely concentrated voice, "They tell me… That you like chess." He blinked at me and moved to respond before he was stopped by an oppressive change in the atmosphere.

A Booming shockwave of wind and noise zoomed past, and the effect the noise had may as well have been just as physical as the wind, as the air cooled and a sense of dread settled up on my shoulders. And then my face fell even further and my eyes narrowed as two screens simultaneously popped into existence.

* * *

 **Quest Updated; Landing the DisMount!**

 **Objective Completed; Evacuate as much of the Civilian Population as possible, 43%/100%**

 **-Protect the Tunnels until they make it through!**

 **Rewards; + 1 Free point per 10% evacuated, [Guardian Angel] Trait, and the ability to sleep at night knowing you tried.**

 **Failure; Death.**

* * *

 **Quest Updated; The Head of the Snake!**

 **Objective Completed: With the Military Presence gone, there is no one to man the Western Front! Make your way there and prepare to fight!**

 **-The Final Group of Test Subjects have escaped, deal with them one way or another! 0/100.**

 **Rewards:**

 **-Success; 500 exp, + 2 Free Points, and the [Iron Skin] Skill.**

 **-Failure; Pain and Death.**

* * *

My eyes stayed locked onto the words for all of two seconds before My eyes snapped up just as the eyes of the Professor mirrored the movement to meet mine. As our eyes met, neither one of us even had to say anything, immediately I unfurled my weapon as a green fire sprung up around him and gears constructed of the same green fire began to spin in place. His breathing suddenly sped up exponentially, and with a nod almost imperceptible he disappeared from my view.

Behind me the Asphalt of the road crack and gave way as roaring monsters began to climb up from underneath the broken street. As similar potholes began to crumble in on themselves only to reveal that every single front runner of the new invasion had a title similar to the Fire dust infused Beowolf, a growl began to roll out of my throat. I jumped up into the air, aiming for the hole that had opened up behind me, and powered a [Smackdown] powerful enough to cave it in. The blood in my veins began to be audible as the adrenal rush began to come into effect, and on my map I saw that there were hundreds of these holes and even more Grimm pouring from into the city.

I landed and I activated [Panic!], letting the Growl turn into a Wail that rattled the windows of nearby buildings and cars, and more importantly got the attention of every Grimm in the Area. Those that were now trapped by the cave in I had caused underneath my feet began to go berserk and yowl while those more free began to rush out of their Chasms, usually led by some sort of Elder Grimm infused with Dust. I immediately pulled out my Pistol and began to pepper those closest with fire, glad to see that the bullets packed enough of a punch to pierce the Bone plates and masks that were beginning to converge upon me.

But then the through the Fury and Rage came the sight of the [Landing the DisMount] Quest, and I begrudgingly disengaged from the Grimm and Launched myself away towards the Tunnels, screaming obscenities along the way.

* * *

A swinging arm swung over her head as she shot past, the limb leaving a glowing blue trail of Ice in the air in its wake, but she ignored it to bounce off of the ground as she hit in a spinning kick that connected her shin to the base of the Oversized Ursa's Neck. It hit vibrantly glowing Blue Dust, but thankfully her weapon cleaved through anyways. As she tumbled to the ground with its head, she was barely able to land on her feet and she was breathing raggedly.

To be fair, she had never had to fight for more than a few minutes at a time, and then suddenly she's fighting for her life for nearly an hour. Of course she was winded, and while her ego reared its head and began to disparage her for it, she noticed that the other Hunters-in-Training were just as if not more tired, save for Taiyang. The blond Bastard looked as though he could keep fighting for a while longer, though he was huffing and puffing all the same.

As soon as the five had arrived alongside their entourage of Civilians, she could immediately see Austin's handiwork around the area, with large swathes of ground carved out and a new pillar of smoke that had made navigation much easier.

Or it would have, if he had told Taylor that he was Burning the Place to the Ground.

And now, as Soldiers laid down cover fire and tried to pick off stragglers, everyone had come to realize exactly what having no gate meant. And as the place had burnt to the ground, the Anti-Air cannons had depleted their powersource, which now meant that they had a new format of combat to contend with, and she was without a ranged option. If she had the breath she would have cursed his name and everything he loved, but as it stood she could only place her hands on her knees and try and regain her breath.

Then there was a rumbling in the ground, similar to the feeling of the Civilians fleeing into the Tunnels and the thundering of the boots and shoes on the Asphalt as they began to be filed into transport vehicles and carted through the Tunnels. Taylor hopped backwards as another Hole appeared the Head of Beowolf Minor Poked through, snarling. She got into a ready stance as another sound entered her hearing; A whistling that was growing increasingly loud.

The noise came to an end with a crash, as everything with a twelve foot radius was suddenly and violently thrown away. A small dust cloud went with the Grimm and a large chunk of Asphalt, and in the middle was a humanoid Silhouette. It seemed to be knelt down, and braced in that position, before it swung an arm and blew away the Dust obstructing her view.

And there, in the center of a crater, Stood Austin.

"We gotta to go Girlie!"

And behind him came a horde of Grimm numbering near the thousands. Already far past her limits, this was the last straw and she fell forward into a dead faint.

* * *

I wasted no time, ignoring stray gunfire as the horde descended on the position to instead bodily hurl the exhausted body of Taylor through the mouth of the tunnel and shout for everyone to fall back. I could only wait so long as the quicker Grimm were bearing down on me, but once Team STRQ had pulled as many as they could back and I had killed a Griffon that had landed on my back I shot the Keystone of the Arch of the Tunnel until the Concrete was sufficiently cracked. Then I launched myself at the piece in a shoulder charge, half happy to hear it give under me and half nervous as to how bad the collapse would be.

For a moment It was as if nothing would happen, just my carcass landing on the ground before scrambling to stand up, the Soldiers who had been stationed as the Vanguard Beginning to Sprint deeper in the tunnels as a few stood stock still in shock, while the Hunters in training disappeared with Taylor in tow as they saw what I had done. Then the Rumbling started, nearby at first as Rocks began to shake above my head and the Arch finally was unable to support itself under the weight without the keystone.

The collapse started near the opening, and a few unlucky grimm were caught in the initial slide, and then the ceiling began to rumble deeply as I launched myself as far as I could risk with such low clearance. I landed in a clumsy roll and looked back towards the entrance, grimacing as I saw a crack forming along the ceiling reaching almost a hundred feet back. I made eye contact with one of the slower soldiers, a young man who couldn't have been older than eighteen whose eyes simply screamed terror, the crack exploded downwards starting from the front of the Tunnel and rolled towards the back as a wave of Rocks, Sand, and Dust fell to the floor. With it went the sparse light in the tunnels and twenty one white blips on my Minimaps. I tried not to think of the one under a hundred feet of rubble who was still on the map.

I slumped downwards as I was grabbed by the shoulders and spun around to meet the harsh gaze of Taiyang, who slammed me against the rubble with a snarl marring his otherwise handsome features. "You could have killed us, you dumbass! Collapsing the Tunnel on purpose, after all the work we put into getting the Civilians in here?! Are you out of your Mind?!" I understood the Anger, as it looked like I had simply jumped in and almost killed everyone in the tunnels, but I didn't have the option to waste time.

So I responded to his furious questioning by Slamming the crown of my head into his nose, glad to see that while he was thrown back and let go while not having broke his nose, I decided to explain as his team approached and I obviously saw Summer motioning for her team to settle down as I growled my explanation. "Could have? Not unless the Tunnel is even worse off than I thought. The Civilian Extract Tunnels are made in a row of consecutive Arches with double Columns, specifically to Stop the entire thing collapsing all at once. You'd have to blow at least four to start a chain reaction that would wipe the place out, but the entrances are made to blow. If it had been done correctly, or had I had enough time with the Extraction manual in Detention, I could have made it happen cleaner."

Then I tapped the Rubble with my pointer finger, noting the lack of any give with grim satisfaction, "And now we've got a few hundred ton wall in between us and a few thousand Grimm." Taiyang now looked more calm, though still giving me a look that I attributed to shock, and Raven decided to speak up in my defense.

"It's true, I can still feel them on the other side of the Rocks. We wouldn't have survived them, nor would anyone else in tunnel. It was the best solution to a bad situation," She clarified and almost instantly the look on Taiyang's face morphed from suspicion to begrudging acceptance. She nodded in my direction, and they began to speak amongst themselves as they planned to lead the remaining Soldiers down the Tunnels, but I was distracted by Taylor exploding into consciousness.

She jolted upright and slammed into my stomach and diaphragm managing to knock the wind out of me. I held my stomach as she blinked in panic as she tried to take in the scene in the lowlight of the Emergency lights of the Tunnel. Finally she calmed down, though only after I had finally caught my breath again and offered her a hand to stand up. She grabbed it and hauled herself up with a huff and a scowl, apparently blaming me for her fainting, "Thanks," she snarled quietly and I only shook my head in response.

"Alright," Summer called in a fairly optimistic and cheerful tone, "Let's get moving! We have a long way to go, so let's get moving!"

As everyone set off in varying levels of speed, Taylor and I made eye contact and small level of agreement flowed through the interaction, 'The true enemy is Cheer,' and we both scoffed at the Bright young woman leading the group at large through the tunnels. Mostly because even after a near death experience she was nearly skipping through the dark tunnels.

* * *

"So," I began after a few minutes into the walk and every effort to distance myself from the crowd of soldiers, who were cajoling each other and finally letting themselves relax in the relative safety of the tunnels, was mirrored by the Fox Faunus, "You act like you know me, or at least know of me."

She turned towards me and flashed an incredulous look at me before responding, "Ah, yeah I know you. And I'm pretty sure everyone in the Prep School knew of you in some capacity."

It was my turn to look at her disbelievingly, "And why do you say that?" I grinned ferally, hoping to accentuate my longer and sharper than average canine teeth and and growled out sarcastically, "Is it… My devilish good looks?"

Her response was to mush her hand into my face with a laugh, and I moved with the force of the push to stop it from knocking me over, letting a more natural smile overtake me. "Hah! As if! I'm fairly sure that the most people said about your looks were that the black eyes people gave you were improvements."

I snickered at the insult, before retaliating in kind, "At least I don't wear a fuckin' tail when I go out for a midnigh' stroll," I tried to look smug, though I'm sure I failed as my eyes slid over to her to see her smiling and shaking her head.

"Would you believe me if I said that it was one of the Don's Plans?" She didn't even wait for my answer before continuing, "Some Bullcrap about marketing the Syndicate to the Faunus Population and showing diversity." She shook her head in disgust as she put her hands in the pockets of her Leather Jacket, which now sported a few minor wholes. One of which she was now frowning at as she poked a finger out through it.

I tsked as I tried to rationalize the plan, but found myself unable to create a good reasoning for it, and instead opted for poor humor as I was well versed, "Maybe he had a Fur Fetish?" I laughed as I watched her lips curl back and her nose wrinkle in disgust and distaste at the joke.

"I certainly hope not," she muttered under her breath. We continued on in a companionable silence, broken only by complaints of sore feet and insults being thrown back, for a few minutes, "And I thought I did know you, back before all of this. Everyone knew you were the strongest kid that wasn't in the Combat Program and that I held the top spot in the Combat Program. People started to joke that you could beat me in a fight. Maybe it started out as a joke, but my rep was on the line. I had to figure it out."

I snorted as we walked, letting her puzzle her thoughts together, before she decided to elaborate on them, "So I started watching you, which I'd like to say I did with skill but goddamn are you easy to spy on. Like, embarrassingly easy. I heard everything I needed just by being around you for the span of about two weeks. I had your measurements estimated, I had weight, and I had a pretty good idea of what you could do, and I was almost satisfied with my certain victory if it came down to it. I had even decided to prove it by challenging you in front of the entire school to a fight."

"Then you dropped out of school literally the next day, got a job, and left the place behind. I even tracked you down to your apartment before I realized how stupid I was being, relentlessly hunting some civilian when I should have been picking up the slack of the Syndicate goons," She shook her head in disgust.

"Well," I began slowly, "If it's any consolation, you did end up challenging me in the capacity of your work." I gave her a thumbs up as she scowled lightly at me, "Two birds with one stone, I say."

We continued to throw insults, barbs, and crude jokes at one another as we walked along, and I found myself wondering how much I had missed over the years by not actually trying to have friends. Or even one of them, for that matter. It was enjoyable, and it definitely explained why everyone had so many of the things.

* * *

 **Bloodlust Detected!**

* * *

I blinked at the message, as I hadn't ever had the message pop before, but I looked up at the rest of the people in the Tunnel only to see them all looking around wildly or clutching their heads. Even Taylor started to cold sweat, and only I and Team STRQ seemed to be unaffected in a major way.

I moved on instinct as I heard and felt rumbling in the walls, grabbing Taylor by the Shoulder and launching us backwards as an extremely Fast Red dot sped towards us. As soon as we had moved the Wall of the Tunnel burst in and my eyes widened as I looked upon our newest foe.

 **[Molekin]**

 **[Level 31 Enhanced Molekin]**

 **[Subject 12]**

I immediately pulled the note on the Creature as I rolled under it's scything Hands as it turned towards us. The thing stood twenty twelve feet tall hunched over, its body was a black blob under plates of Bone thicker than the frames of the Mech suits I had fought that morning, and its mask was a full head contraption that looked closer to a Helmet with a Pointed Mouth piece. But the single most dangerous part would probably the Claws on each Hand, with white Fingers of Bone as long as a man stood tall.

There was a Pause, as every entity in the dimly lit tunnel tried to process its new environment, before as one we all moved. Guns were drawn as Soldiers scrambled in the dark as they retreated, Taiyang, Taylor, and Raven Lunged at the Lumbering Hulk of a Beast, and more alarmingly Summer was frantically trying to stop Qrow from firing his weapon. I squinted in her direction before my eyes widened and looked up before launching at the beast myself.

Thankfully Raven had heard Summer, Somehow, over the Ringing of Gunfire that was deafening everyone else, so I only had to detach two unfortunate souls from the beast. I landed with my feet on his side sparing only a moment to grab Taylor before using [Thundering Blow] to send both of us careening out of the way. The downside was that the shockwave of the skill was enough to set off the the many cracks in the ceiling, once again bringing down multiple tonnes of rock only this time it was in our way.

Though it did have the added benefit of crushing the Grimm that had caused the Situation.

Both I and Taylor lay on the Floor, with hands over our heads like it would have stopped a boulder, waiting for the rocks to settle before standing up.

* * *

 **Quest Completed: Landing the DisMount!**

 **Rewards: + 4 Free Points, Ability to Sleep at night, and the [Guardian Angel] Trait!**

* * *

 **Quest Updated: Head of the Snake;**

 **-Dealt with 100 subjects.**

 **-Leave Mount Glenn.**

 **Rewards:**

 **-Success; 500 exp, + 2 Free Points, and the [Iron Skin] Skill.**

 **-Failure; Pain and Death.**

* * *

 **Trait Obtained; Guardian Angel;**

 **-Saving someone Grants you the effect of +10 Charisma.**

* * *

I violently swiped at the message and kicked at the mountain of rubble now in between us and our escape. "I'd be more angry if turnabout wasn't fair play," I grumbled under my breath while Taylor was doing her best not to panic.

"Austin, how are we getting out of this?" She questioned in a calm that spoke of disbelief over serenity.

"Well," I began, only to pause as the emergency lights flickered before going out completely. Their absence left us in near pitch black, and I could hear her breathing begin to speed up in response. "First off, we're not going to panic or hyperventilate, as we don't know if we have a source of oxygen. Secondly, We're going to wait for our eyes to adjust to the dark, because there are no bandages for scraped knees down here." 'If the way her breathing has evened out is any indication, I'm a master comforter.'

As I waited, quite pleased with how I handled that despite the grumblings coming from her that sounded suspiciously like death threats, I felt something that shouldn't be felt in closed off caves; a slight breeze. To make sure I hadn't imagined it I pulled out my lighter and sparked it, relishing the tiny flame as it danced before swaying to the right, a clear indication of air flowing away from us. And as we were under a mountain without a viable escape route, I had to take what I could get.

I walked to the right, and I was glad to hear Taylor following me, to look for an opening through which air could flow. I found a gap barely a foot wide between the pillar of rubble and the hole through which the Molekin had arrived. I forced my way through by emptying my lungs and simply shoving my body through, and found a tunnel of moved dirt that had a light source further down the snaking tunnel. But the best part was that it was sloped steeply upwards.

"If we make it out of here, I'm kicking your ass in every conceivable way," Taylor snapped after she shimmied her way through, a task that was much easier for her. Though the female fleshy bits on her chest might have been uncomfortable, she hadn't had to squash every part of her against a wall of rocks. But she still looked annoyed, and it was obvious on her barely illuminated face.

"If we make it out of here," I started glibly, "I might even let you." And now that we weren't trying to keep an eye on a group of soldiers or Civvies, we set off at a trot and quickly made our way up the incline.

* * *

After almost half an hour of running and following the flickering flame of the Lighter at every possible turn, we came upon the source of light; Giant Dark Purple Crystals of Dust. I was slightly fearful of the Dust, but was heartened to see the trail hit a much sharper Slope that would have to be climbed before the sight of the predawn morning sky. As I took a step forward, a hand gripped my elbow, and Taylor gave me a tired look that amounted to "Be careful, Dumbass." I nodded and we moved forwards cautiously. We made it past these spires of Dust, a color I didn't even recognise, and to the Rock Climb to freedom. I let Taylor go first like a gentleman, as I wasn't looking forward to trying to climb with the wall pressing into my back, before starting up the fifty foot incline myself.

I was breathing fresh air after twenty feet, but then I heard a crack and a yelp of "Shit!" from above me. A few rocks fell before I was hit by the hurtling body of my companion in the face, which managed to pry the rocks I was holding in my hands from the wall. Abandoning the climb entirely I grabbed her and shielded her from the Fall. We landed on the ground, and upon standing I heard something bad happening behind me. I turned towards the now humming and glowing Dust Crystals and my eyes widened as a sizable rock rolled towards them at considerable speed.

The moment it struck every single Crystal visible in the tunnel exploded into a nexus of purple. The wave washed over us, and I was shocked to see a message pop up.

* * *

 **Status effect gained; [Time Dilation];**

 **Time experienced is at 1/175200 the rate as usual.**

 **Duration: 30 minutes.**

* * *

I heard Taylor slump to the floor behind me, now unconscious for some unknown reason. I looked up and I understood why it would be disconcerting. Stalagmites and Stalactites outside of the radius of the Explosion grew at rates that shouldn't have been possible. Flashes of creatures and light were there one second and gone the next. The light of the sky was turning so fast that it was closer to a strobe light than any form of celestial body. Messages popped up, and they did nothing to assuage the Sensory overload.

* * *

 **Quest Completed: Head of the Snake!**

 **Rewards: 500 exp, + 2 Free Points, and the [Iron Skin] Skill.**

* * *

 **Skill learned; Iron Skin: Level 1.**

 **I heard that a master of this skill is so thick skinned that he could tank a million insults without crying.**

 **Any Attacks that deal damage under the This Skill's Level times five are ignored for purposes of damage.**

* * *

 **Level up + 1**

* * *

I turned to the side and closed my eyes to shield my eyes from the sight and close my other senses to stop the rapidly changing background smells and Sounds from stripping me of sanity. Even as I tried to cut off all sensory organs I could only do so much, and it began to take effect. Even with my eyes closed I noticed the two final Notifications that Popped before I let unconsciousness take me over.

* * *

 **[Now seems like a good time. We need to Talk.]**

* * *

End of Chapter.

* * *

Interlude B

* * *

He brushed off the sleeves of his suit as he looked at his handiwork; a Massive Dragon Grimm imprisoned in time for when he found a way to actually finish it off. He had heard over the Radio that the civilians had made it across, and even allowed himself to smile at the thought of less innocents hurt.

As Green stairs appeared to carry him to the ground under the Incredibly slowed Grimm, as opposed to truly Frozen which was still beyond even him, and he was glad to hear his polished shoes land on the ground with a clack. Aerial battle had always been risky, even for him, but relying solely on Aura constructs that had a small chance to fail was nerve wracking no matter how many times he did it.

He thought back on the day he had had as he climbed out of the pit that would trap the Beast, and smirked as he thought about the interesting young man he had encountered.

Ozpin let a chuckle rumble out of his throat as he finally cleared the lip, "As many Civilians answered his call made it out of the City. Protector indeed."

* * *

End of Interlude.

* * *

 **Austin Stáin**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])**

 **Lvl 17: 420/1700 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 25618 HP Regen: 117 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1310, Stm Regen: 37 Stm/Sec**

 **Str: (98) 101**

 **Dex: 31**

 **Con: (128) 131**

 **Agi: 8**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 69**

* * *

Fucking Finally, Made it through the Chapter, and with it some of the harder parts to write for the story. Establishment of Character is harder than growth, hence why people who are just starting to write often choose Fanfiction to utilize already established characters to chop out the hardest bit. Cowards, the lot of em.

Any way, I hope you enjoyed the story, as there isn't a lot of comments to respond to, save one.

Alex, I'm glad you enjoy the system I've made, and if you want to see the shite I've written regarding it and balancing please make an account so you can contact me and I can send you the stuff to peruse. It's mostly character creation stuff, but it's useful. And as the account titled "YaBoiAlex" has existed for just about a year, I'm going to assume you have yet to make your account.

The offer is open to anyone who wishes to use the system, others using it and making some cool stories would be like a christmas gift. Just shoot me a Message and I'll hook you up.

Now, as you asked about writing Filler I'll give you a tip that worked for me. If you think of it as Filler then it will never be written. Think of it as important, and nothing written should be without use or information. Points established should be expanded upon or resolved, never forgotten or without point, even small side plots that can be dealt with in a chapter are a reprieve from the main story and are therefore with use. The interludes or short pieces from another perspective? Clarifies outsider perspective or handles details unnecessary to the Main Character.

Think of side points as important and they'll be easier to write.

Alright, Shorter Author's note than usual.

Jericho Out.


	9. Prologue: Resolution

_Interlude A_

* * *

The Convoys of Trucks thundered through the Tunnels at breakneck speeds. Ever since they had heard the collapse behind them caution had been thrown to the wind as they tried to escape, afraid that they would be crushed at a moments notice. The Last of the Transports held the Burning Battalion, as they had held off Grimm until every Civilian had been inside the armored vehicles.

Nothing short of a Goliath could break through their reinforced siding.

A brave few had stayed behind to keep their pursuers off of their backs along with the Young Huntsmen who had chosen to hold the line and then fight the running battle as they came through the Tunnels. They hadn't been heard of since the Rumble that reverberated throughout the Tunnel.

Commander Charles Schug sat calm and resolute in his transport with the rest of his Battalion, who sat patient and ready to fight. The Driver barked a quick report over his soldier, stating that the convoy had finally made it through the Tunnels, but that they had met resistance.

This resistance had been ignored.

The last transport cleared the mouth of the tunnel and a flash of light signaled the open air. Even as dire as circumstances outside the vehicle might be, seeing the once again clear sky was heartening to all within. The Commander sighed before standing, waiting patiently for a full stop. Every Soldier surrounding him stood with him, hefting weapons liberated and grim smiles as they knew how bad it might be for them.

He felt a little proud that they still smiled.

As the rumbling subsided and the air brakes deployed he walked towards the Bay door and pressed the button for it to be opened. He was greeted to a line of Concrete stops in a semicircle and a bustling military presence that whirled outside of it. All of the Transports had been corralled into the area and a very ominous line of armed soldiers stood between them and the City.

Commander Schug stepped out and began to make his way, unarmed towards the line.

He heard them begin to bark at each other like all military trained dogs did, and almost flared his aura when the nearest and most nervous of the guards began to train their rifle on him, before a much larger and imposing figure laid a hand on his shoulder to steady him and it was lowered. The larger man had a mechanical arm and wore a military uniform nearly identical to the one that the people who had thrown him and his troop in Jail had worn; Atlesian.

But this young man, for he wore less of the visible stress that a job such as their's inevitably brought, was different and wore a grim smile much the same as his own. He knew because he had taught the young lad once and remembered his star pupil like his own son.

"James!" Commander Schug Yelled across the guard line, "What a surprise to see you in Vale!"

"Commander Schug, Sir," He responded with a Crisp Atlesian salute of hand over heart, "I'm just as surprised as you are. Imagine my surprise when I hear that the Outpost that I had helped build less than ten years ago had already fallen to Grimm in my absence."

Schug shook his head, before taking the opportunity to smile as he saw the one thing that could save him from a firing squad; A News Van. His eyes slid over to James' own, noting the mischievous glint that lied there. "I see that the word of our situation has spread quite rapidly, Lieutenant."

"It would seem so, Sir," Came the clipped voice of his student, "And I imagine it has had no effect on the Council's decision to leak the circumstances of your unfortunate and all too sudden flight from Mount Glenn. Something about a freak accident and there being nothing that anyone could have done to help?"

"Quite."

James nodded with his head towards where an obvious set up for an interview had been erected and they began to walk towards it, with James filling him in on what he was expected to say. Commander Schug swallowed the bitter pill as he knew it was the only thing keeping his and his troop's heads from the chopping block.

He made it to where the cameras had all been set up, and began to go through the motions of giving a report, and once his entirely falsified report was finished an oily looking man in an even worse looking suit stepped up to the microphones to take over the presentation.

"As you heard, some horrible news has just reached us from the Mount, but rest assured that even in such a dire situation we have managed to wrest control away from the Grimm as usual. Maybe we lost a city, but we gained…."

Commander Schug scoffed and turned away, trying to rid his eyes of the disgusting sight that was unrolling in front of his eyes. He turned to his companion and spoke slowly but firmly so that it would be understood as he intended, "Thank you James, I know that it must have been a rough time for you, what with the flight being so long and all your duties must have been interfered with." ' _I know you leaked this, and I thank you for it._ ' "But maybe that wasn't the best idea for you Lieutenant."

He smiled in response before correcting him, "Actually, It's Captain Now, Sir."

"Hmm, That does sound quite a bit better. 'Captain Ironwood' Just has a better ring to it, much better than Lieutenant at any rate. Maybe if you keep this up you'll even make Major."

"We both know I'll stand for nothing less than General."

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

It was on odd day indeed when anyone entered the Council during session. It was an even odder day when they stormed in.

They had almost adjourned their emergency meeting on the Mount's Survivors when a wave of oppressive energy washed over the building, leaving all but the most stubborn or willful still standing. Many Councilmen were left blubbering in their seats unable to help themselves, while others had fallen to the floor under the sheer **weight** of the presence. The only one who looked almost unaffected was the Headmaster of Beacon, an aging man who no longer had the strength to inspire the fear necessary to rein them, the council, in.

The doors were blown from their hinges by the emerald green aura that radiated the same presence that had smashed them to their seats. The doors, instead of continuing their trajectories to crush all of those at the table, stopped mid flight and stayed still as a slight green tint washed over them. Death loomed above their heads, but nothing was quite as ominous as the _clack_ of shoes on tile that came from down the hall.

Suddenly, every single one of the security officers were flung into the room as though they were shot from a cannon before being followed by a glowing green figure walked into the room at a more sedate pace.

As his Glowing green eyes continued to spill Power from them he gestured with his hand towards where the thirty foot tall ceremonial marble Doors had once stood. The doors floated through the ar to settle in their places once more, before the green shine left them and they landed with a thunderous boom. The Figure, who simply radiated power turned his head towards the remaining council members at the Table.

" **I am not known as the strongest Huntsman as a joke or as an exaggeration.** "

The wave of power doubled in magnitude as even the Headmaster began to Wilt under it.

" **I will ask questions. You will give me answers. If they are not acceptable for this** _ **Catastrophe**_ **then you will all be replaced within the week.** "

Ozpin had returned from his unsanctioned mission, and he was **not happy**.

* * *

 _Interlude C_

* * *

Ashley sat contentedly in the corner of the room that had been set aside for the younger Children, her amber eyes flitting about the space to take in the sight. They had been the first to leave, and as such had been the first to arrive and receive accommodations, though Ashley had yet to see why. So far the Children had all been overly emotional and entirely without gratitude for it, even after Mrs. Janette had told them all that the room was a gift the first group activity had been to trash the place.

Crayon marks on the walls. Curtains pulled down and used as capes. Couch Cushions thrown like frisbees.

Disgraceful.

Instead of joining in with their odd rituals she decided that she would sit in a corner and focus on reading the books that Mrs. Janette had given her from the Library to read. She had even managed to talk her into bringing the Grimm Encyclopedia, which was her favorite so far. In fact, she was reading it at the moment. The problem was increasingly becoming evident as she found that the much larger and information filled book had letters much smaller than other books she had read. She had already been having issues reading the book no matter how close she put it, and as the current environment made it difficult to place the Book far enough away for it to help she was stuck squinting and holding the book in odd ways to try and find a better method.

While this escaped the notice of the very preoccupied Caretakers around the room, it did not go unnoticed by some of the nearby children. Most didn't care, but one decided that he didn't want to play with the room or toys, he wanted to play with **her**. She once again moved the book away from her face and determinedly tried to read it, but she could only blink as it was wrenched away from her grasp.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked upon the child who dared to interrupt her learning. She looked to be about a year older than Ashley, and double her weight. She vaguely recognized that she was being taunted, that the portly child was claiming that she didn't know how to read, but she found herself unable to care.

' _I want to help._ '

A small ember appeared within her mind. The chubby girl pranced around and flashed her a victorious snarl, and in Ashley's eyes the world began to slow.

' _To help, I need to learn, to prepare._ '

The Ember began to brighten and turn into a small flame, endowing her with a warmth so unlike the warmth that her mother and father had given her when they cuddled or read stories together on the couch. A warmth… That reminded her of the recent past.

' _To learn, to prepare, she needed that book._ '

The Flame began to die down as the more sensible side of her brain began to chide her for acting so childish, for reacting just as the Bully wanted her to.

' _I want that book._ '

She had almost calmed down before the memories came back to her. The sight of a kind but awkward stranger offering her a hand, giving her a warm smile. The **Wrath** that he exhibited every time he came across one of the Beowolfs in his path, and the very different type of Warmth that the sight brought her. The thought that the warmth was being stolen by this _fat little girl_ came roaring to the front of her mind, and the Flame that had almost been quenched by reason roared to life in response.

" **Give me my book.** "

Her mother had raised her right, to be polite and use her Manners, and she stuck to them first.

"Or what, Bookworm? Gonna Squint at me?" Came the taunt from the child, and the circle of children that had been gathering laughed in response.

The World had taught her otherwise, and The Stranger had fought and raged against the world that had so easily taken away her mother. He had taught her that sometimes the world didn't respond to Politeness.

" **No.** "

Ashley fell upon her with a cry, tackling her to the ground before repeatedly slapping her, all while cursing her tiny physicality for limiting the amount of Damage she wanted to incur upon the bully, who was now on the ever growing list of people Ashley wouldn't help when she was older. Maybe it was childish, but she thought that Austin was too nice. Some people didn't deserve help.

But She wasn't above giving them a chance to earn it.

When the caregivers finally saw what was happening, the bully was still a sobbing mess covered in scratches and bruises, but Ashley had found the perfect method to read the book.

In the Hands of a crying little girl, who had earned a future favor, eight feet away from her.

* * *

 _Interlude D_

* * *

Broken Streets and buildings that looked a step away from crumbling were all that surrounded him as he sat in one of those wrecked homes. On the table in front of him was a bottle of the Strongest Alcohol he could find and the File that he had been searching for for the past fifteen years. The few papers were spread about tabletop, and though he had read every single one of them at least five times, the report from Ozpin himself at least twenty, he still found himself unable to comprehend what he was reading.

As Hazel drained the last of the bottles, he blamed the alcohol.

He felt more than heard the shadow materialize behind him, thankful that in this state he wouldn't have to deal with the more excitable of fellows that had been hounding him.

The Man took measured steps through the Ruined room towards him, but he motioned him over. He needed someone to talk to, and even this near stranger would do. "It seems that you've found what you had been looking for," came the calm and measured tone of Arthur Watts.

"I was wrong," Hazel answered the unasked question, "After all this time I was wrong. My Sister was not killed as I thought, by some whim of Ozpin or cruel decision on his part. She died protecting him, her partner, by sacrificing herself," A sob threatened to escape him, but he vowed to maintain composure until the interloper had left, "And Now I've no reason to hate, to avenge, or even mourn her. She died on her own terms, just as she Lived."

"I see," came the remorseful response, who even though he portrayed himself as an uncaring machine like those he claimed to produce still understood loss.

Hazel felt a tear track down his face, "I must ask that you go back to whomever you work for and tell them I must decline their offer."

A sharp intake of breath came from his companion and after a small time of pause he questioned his resolve, "... If you are certain, Mr. Rainart."

Hazel nodded, feeling his eyes steel behind the tears that were beginning to flow silently down his cheeks, "I am. I must move past this, and your offer would serve only to drive me to the edge of my sanity."

After a Moment Arthur nodded and then moved out of the shell of a house they had had their short talk in and left him behind. Only after he could no longer hear his footsteps did Hazel finally let himself begin to cry, to mourn the years lost to a lie and his own anger. After a long while he managed to piece himself back together enough to rip the picture of his sister that was in the File before leaving.

Too long had he spent on his fool's errand, to the point where his emotions were almost as muted as his body's signals. He had to find another purpose, maybe even helping people instead of hurting them.

' _Yes,_ ' Hazel thought with a sigh as he walked down the lonely street of Mount Glenn's Business Quarter with his new prized possession in his hand, ' _Helping People instead of Hurting them, something even Gretchen could agree with._ '

He left the City with a watery smile on his face, a new goal in life, and not a single regret regarding his decision to come to the Mount.

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

I awoke to a throbbing headache that was quickly fading, a dry throat, and a white plain. I sat there, feeling a weight in me shift as I awoke. For a moment I couldn't place why I felt so, but then I realized that the usual message that accompanied my waking wasn't floating in front of my face to taunt me with the continued existence of The Game. I sighed softly, letting the peace and tranquility of the Swaying Grains to blanket me and tried to return to the sleep of the Sane.

"I know it's comfy, but I'd appreciate it if you stood up. We may have thirty minutes, but that's not long for a conversation," Came a calm and blunt voice that rumbled through the Air. My eyes snapped open and any remaining sleep was dislodged from my eyes as reality crashed back into my memory.

"Taylor-! The Dust-! The Explosion-!" I lurched up into a seating position with a cry, before realizing that I wasn't in the same cave. I wasn't in any cave actually, just a paper white field of tall grass larger than any I could remember seeing surrounded by a forest of some kind. The entire picture was white, but instead of radiating purity or peace it radiated a sense of… Fury. The Wind whipped at the Grass, the Trees that surrounded the Field bent and bowed to the Wind before snapping up straight in defiance, and the Sky was a battle of the Cold sky blue and the harsh oranges and red of Dusk in constant flux. The Clouds flew across at speeds I had never witnessed before, and they flew in directions that spoke of varied currents of wind in the Sky above.

It seemed as though Wherever I was happened to a tumultuous place.

And I felt right at home.

"Cozy, isn't it?" once again came the calm rumble, and this time I could trace the voice to it's source. Standing twenty feet away from me stood a man wearing a white collared dress shirt and slacks, tie loose and fluttering in the wind. His Hair was just as White everything save the Sky that swung about his skull frenetically, and his eyes were lumps of black coal that gave nothing away. His Skin had the look of porcelain, but way he stood spoke of confidence that made me think he wasn't quite as fragile.

There was also the fact that he had the body type of professional Bodybuilder, but that was beside the point. His hands were in his pockets, and his posture was casual, but I found that I could feel an aura of power that radiated off of him. The only thing that stopped me from leaping away from him was that his dot was white on my Minimap.

Then his words caught up to me.

"Wait, wait, wait. You're the one who sent me the message before I blacked out?" I questioned as I scrunched my eyes and contemplated the implications.

"That is correct," he answered simply, and I let my eyes open and stood to give him a more general look over. Specifically, whatever the game gave me on him.

[ **Fenrir** ]

My eyebrow rose in response to the total lack of Information, because it had even given me the dirt on a monster like Ozpin, but this Ferrin was untraceable. Interesting.

But I wasn't one for all this _furtive glancing_ and _knowing smiles_.

"Where are we, and who're you supposed to be?" I asked gruffly, maybe a tad bit peeved at being deprived good, healthy sleep.

"This is your mind, if the blank interior and pervasive feeling of Energy weren't a dead giveaway. I wish you'd think a little more deeply, or at least put some structure on your thoughts. Maybe I'd get a house in here or at least a hut, based on the level of thought we're capable of. And I'm a part of you, the worst parts of you, the parts that you hate," came the entirely too calm and a tad bit insulting answer.

"Are you the part that makes me ask slightly inappropriate questions?" I growled, hoping against hope that he was. I had a few words to say to whatever part was in charge of _that._

"No, that'd be you," he responded lazily. My face warped into a frown as I realized that I was just, in fact, an Asshole.

' _Damn, there went all of my excuses._ '

"What about the part that actually kind of likes the taste of Avocado and Agave, even though the people that eat it are insufferable?" I cried indignantly.

He gave me the briefest of smiles before it was ruthlessly crushed into his mask of calm and indifference, "That'd still be you."

I placed my hands upon my hips and stared at him defiantly, "Then what in the world are you made of, if not those parts?"

He shrugged with a look of smugness on his face, "Maybe we're gay? It would explain the fashion choices."

I barked a laugh, entirely convinced at this point that he was bullshitting me. It's what I'd have done in his place, after all. "If you're really me, we both know that we tried that shit. What was it, five or ten minutes of watching gay porn in horror? Just because we were so tired of dealing with women that we thought it would have been a better alternative?"

He laughed heartily at the description, making my much more jaded laugh seem quiet in comparison.

He settled back down and returned to his statue impression before continuing, "I called you in here to give you a long overdue talk, what you have referred to as an Info Dump."

I raised a hand and interrupted without waiting for his go ahead, "Can I refuse?"

"No, you can't leave until this is finished," He responded with ease, his mouth quirking into a shit eating grin as I whined at that, "Now, the basic gist of it is that the Game System isn't a reality bending superpower, and you are not an ascended being. It is simply your mind's way of dealing with your unique physiology, a more visual representation of the Mind-Body connection if you will."

"Be kind, Rewind. 'Unique physiology?'" I interrupted, though his composure was unbroken.

He nodded before waving a hand towards me, and in front of my eyes my [ **Status** ] screen opened. Except now the characters were more fluid and shifted in front of my eyes in a display that left me a tad nauseous. A ripple swept through the screen and where it passed through one of the previously unknown Status the Question Marks changed into letters until it spelled out an entirely new and mind bending Status.

* * *

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_ **[Hidden Modifier of +15 Base on Attraction Value].**

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent.**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Enduring];** _**I can still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut]; For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

* * *

 **[Half-Grimm]; Gain access to both Human and Grimm Skills, but with the weaknesses of both Grimm and Men. Level up only through the [Experience Growth] of Half-Grimm as opposed to the [Stat Growth] of Humans or the [Age Based Experience Growth] of Grimm. Upon hitting age twenty-five stop aging.**

* * *

I spent a good twenty seconds just blinking at the screen before I closed it and stared at Fenrir, who was the one responsible for me having this new issue to deal with.

"The Best part is, if you had simply put five points into Wisdom we would've been able to communicate, I would've been able to do this slowly and not just dump it on you at once, and you wouldn't be like _this_. Honestly," Fenrir spoke in a collected manner and my mind, as shattered as it was, found that it could only listen to him. "As a Grimm would, you have innate control over how your physicality develops, and as a Human would you have access to a grasp of the Soul."

Immediately memories began to surface, in what I assumed was an attempt to help me by Fenrir, "That's why I have the stat points, and why Qrow and Taylor leveled up in the middle of a Quest as opposed to the end of one, Right?"

"Correct, because Humans grow linearly where Grimm and Half-Grimm grow in a Step Function pattern, with periods of stability and massive growths in power. Your Grimm half is also why you have only five points per level, as Grimm need less to be as efficient as Humans. The oddest thing about your situation would be anomaly of the Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma Stats, which would normally be outside your grasp to manipulate but seem to be options to you, and the issue of the floating names and Titles. And as I have access only to information that you do, whether forgotten or remembered, I have no clue as to why either of those oddities exist."

I tapped the floating screen in front of me in an answer, "I'd have to assume it's the last Hidden Status, Right? And if it isn't then we'll probably never know."

He nodded affably, "That is the conclusion I was drawn to as well," Then he looked up and grimaced before returning to make eye contact, "Alas, it seems as though we are running out of time. Is there anything that you would like to know before you leave?"

I stood straight at the demand, "Why yes I do, in fact, have questions. First off, How did I get a Grimm in my Head? Secondly, Why are you so mellow? Finally, have you always been here?"

"One, At a young age you were in a tragedy, of a sort that left you traumatized and your memories to become jumbled into such a mess that I am still untangling them, and came face to face with a Grimm. You were saved by a kindly woman, but you were never one to leave something well enough alone and came back to save _her_ in mere moments. At the young age of Five you had answered the challenge of a Grimm without arms or Soul to bear, invoking an ancient Rite that long passed into obscurity by fulfilling the requisites unintentionally. The result is as you see it, with my souls tied to yours to act like the Janitor of your mind."

Memories, that had once been foggy, came slamming back into my head and I narrowed my eyes while pointing an accusatory finger at him, "You… You're the Beowolf that attacked Nan? The one I beat with a stick?!" Then an even bigger piece of information slammed into place, " **When I was Five?!** "

He sighed and his white skin let me see the small blush pop into existence before he answered the incredulous words, "Not exactly an impressive first introduction for one such as I, but Yes, that was me in my prior form. I'm slightly glad that I'm sealed away in here, because if any of my Den kin heard that I was removed from the Cycle by a Toddler, I'd never live it down." Then he shook the musing from his thoughts and his resolve became evident on his face, "Nonetheless we are on the clock. The reason I'm so mellow is that I'm just waking up. Your recent bout with Sadness and Depression after the Death of the _She-who-shall-not-be-named_ , mixed with your general disposition towards strong feelings was just enough juice to get me up and running. A growing Grimm has to eat, and all that. Though if the amount of anger, fear, and sadness you have been surrounded in and the source of since I have awakened is any indication, I shall continue to be this docile as long as I am well fed," Then his eyes turned skywards for a moment, "And I believe that your Third Question was answered within the first two."

"Right, Well," What a load of information to deal with, but I could feel a pull on my navel that similar to the feeling that had dropped me in my Mind, I guess, and tried to speak quickly as the feeling began to intensify, "Look, Fenrir Could you put anything cool you can think of in the [ **Notes** ] under my or your Pages? And explain that 'Cycle Shite too while you're at-" And then the Feeling exploded in intensity and all sight of the White plain that was my mind began to leave me behind. I was sent of with a wave and a single Screen that faded with my consciousness.

* * *

[ **For it is through Ferocity that we Achieve Immortality.** ]

[ **Without Hesitation we make the world in our image, and make our image as we like.** ] [ **Go forth, and through thy will I shall Help thee.** ]

* * *

I awoke to a much less comfortable position than the last time, though that was to be expected. I swatted at the annoying Notification telling me that I had recovered 25% of my Hp, Stm, and… Ap. Another Notification Popped up directly afterwards to mess with me even more.

* * *

 **Mechanic Unlocked; Aura!**

 **Through Struggle, your soul has decided to make its voice known!**

 **Ap = ((Int*4)+(Res*4))*Level, Regen = Res*4*Level/60**

 **Current Ap = 4760, Current Regen = 78.2 Ap/Sec**

 _ **Aura is the Manifestation of Soul, and with practice can be turned into a very useful weapon.**_

* * *

 **Skill Uncovered through unlocking [Aura]; Aural Shielding, Level 1.**

 _ **The most basic of techniques, for the most basic of bitches.**_

 **Actively replace Health lost with Ap, at a rate of 1:1.**

* * *

My eyes clenched close before a sigh escaped me, signalling the end to fighting the ridiculousness I was surrounded by and instead opened my eyes to survey my surroundings. The Cave was no longer disorienting and Sped up, the world no longer induced vomit, and the sky no longer induced strokes. A grin came across my face, and quickly turned into a grin as I saw that the Rocky Wall that had been or route to escape was now overgrown with Vines and looked like a much simpler task to climb.

I looked over to Taylor, glad to see that she was still alive as her breath was visible in the rapidly cooling air. I stood and tried to reach out to the new pool of energy I had access to, and found that it was much slower to respond than the energy of my body. But after a moment a shining steel Barrier rose to the surface of my skin, and after a moment of letting the exhilaration run its course I let it sink back down to its resting position at the base of my spine. The unrelenting but bolstering cold feeling that had washed over me with the Aura stayed for a few seconds before it too began to fade.

I barked a laugh before I moved over to Taylor and pinched her nose. After twenty seconds her eyes shot opened, though this time I was aware of her reaction to being awoken and managed to avoid the Headbutt that seemed to be aimed at my nose. Her head swiveled to and fro all the while her mouth let forth a tirade of expletives that left me impressed. I stood up and turned towards the Vines near the exit.

"The Fuck Happened..?" I heard Taylor mutter as she stepped towards me only to pause as she saw what I was looking at. "Oh fuck off with that, those weren't here last night!" She yelled, more at the offending foliage than at me, "And I feel like I barely got an hour of sleep. There's no _way_ that shit grew overnight," A look of concern and nausea overcame her face, "And I'm starting to remember what put me down to begin with, what in the world happened in here?"

I looked the cave up and down, noting the differences as I moved towards the vine wall. "Advanced growth of plants and even noticeable growth of Stalagmites, and even smaller dust crystals growing through the cave floor. Breath fogging in the air and I can see a bit of snow up near the top of the wall, I'd say it's winter, and not of the year we were just in," and then I looked down and brushed off some of the residue left behind by the earlier explosion, quirking an eyebrow at the purple hue of the motes in the air, "And we were in a dust explosion of Purple Dust. Dust isn't really my thing, any help from you?"

Her eyebrows drew together as we moved towards the base of the Vine ladder and she answered once she had begun her ascent, "The only thing I can think of is as a food preservative."

We were silent until we both cleared the lip of the cavern and were greeted by a snowy slope dotted with trees. I took in a deep breath with a smile, as the scene of nature was a thing of beauty outside, while I dutifully ignored the snort and curse of Taylor that denounced her disagreement. She zipped up her Jacket and stuffed her hands in her pockets as her breath crystallized in front of her face much more visibly than in the cave. She scowled at it as she stomped in her boots in the snow before growling at my laughter, "Stop laughing and start walking, Staín."

"And where should we go?" I asked laconically, chuckling at her sudden frozen posture. I saw the look of anxiety cross her face and moved to intervene, "If we've been in that cave as long as I think we have, no one expects us to have survived. We could go anywhere we wanted, do anything we wanted, be anyone we wanted to be. So," I paused for a moment of giddiness crept across her face, one that honestly was heartening to me, to know that I wasn't the only one who was having a good time. I had had no ties to the Mount, to anyone at all, outside of a grave that was probably long gone, and I could see that Taylor was feeling that same freedom.

Maybe it wasn't healthy to be happy about being thrown through time, but I don't control how I react emotionally. And logically speaking it had to have been better than the dangerously depressed boy I had been barely even a (subjective) month ago, unable to move or act without my mind dissuading me. Only memories pushed me forward, towards life, and now I had felt hope for the first time in a long time.

The spark in my companion's eye told of the same feeling. "A fresh start… No reputation to follow me, no favors to cash in, no government breathing down my back," An elated grin came over her face, even if it was a tad predatory, "And no one to hold me back. I love it!"

She began to happily hop about the snow, and I followed behind much more subdued, but still cheerful. We spent the day climbing down the Mount, hopefully to leave it behind forever, discussing plans and dreams that we could realize. We knew that both of us were fighters and strong for our age and agreed that getting our Hunter's License would be for the best in the long run, as the document acted as a passport and badge as well. Authority and Freedom in one package, and right up our alleyways to obtain.

I suggested that we go to Shade or the Atlesian Academy to study so that we could avoid any potential hassle if anyone found our older records and matched them to us, but Taylor had heard about a smaller school even further off the radar that trained people all the way from grade school to their Hunter's Certification Past Shade and even further out in the Sands of the Frozen Desert, some upstart Academy known as the "Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youths". I agreed that the place could work, though we both had limited information to work with and we both agreed to scope out as much information as possible once we had found a road and then followed it to a town, as both of our scrolls were dead though still functioning.

The screens lit up just long enough to flash a battery symbol with a line drawn through it in a taunt.

* * *

 **Quest Received; Feet were made for walking!**

 _ **And these feet'll walk all over you.**_

 **-Now that you are free from the Mount, make your way to your next destination;** **Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youths** **.**

 **Rewards; + 2 Free points, and the [Travel Trance] Mechanic.**

* * *

The notification popped after our conversation had ended, and now that I knew Fenrir was in my head I could recognize the odd and unique sense of humor in the flavor text of almost every notification. I simply snorted and shook my head as I closed it and continued walking.

Maybe Time had left me... us... behind, but I refused to let anything keep me down. Maybe the world had changed in the time that had passed, maybe humanity had fallen or been raised higher in the time as well. But as I looked upon nearly frozen trees in an iced over forest, felt the wind upon my face and try it's best to whip my untamable hair around to minimal effect, and saw the sun high over head piercing through the cloud cover I couldn't believe that the world become less wonderful or less filled with fun.

I knew that the spirit of man wouldn't change, couldn't without some divine intervention. Opportunity, vice, and Curiosity would forever fuel humanity in it's endeavors, and as long as that stayed the same I was sure that I would find a way to help. Maybe it would be explosive, maybe it would be smashing, but my version of help would definitely be violent in some way.

The World would resound with the echoes of his fists if I had to guess.

And I'd have fun doing it.

* * *

 _End of Chapter and Prologue._

* * *

 **Austin Stáin**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 17: 420/1700 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp:** **25618** **HP Regen: 117 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm:** **1310** **, Stm Regen: 37 Stm/Sec**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (98) 101**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 31**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (128) 131**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 8**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 69**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 565.4**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage (Stamina Only):10196**

 **Pistol Atk:** **202**

 **Def: Phys; 70%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill.** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_ **[Hidden Modifier of +15 Base on Attraction Value].**

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent.**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Enduring];** _**I can still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut]; For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

* * *

 _And that's the First Arc of the Story completed, hopefully cementing the story and wrapping up the timeline of events so far with adequate energy. This Chapter is more of the Resolution of the Arc, with part 7 being the Climax of excitement and the Downturn in a hopefully meaningful way._

 _The world has once again tried to shit upon our hero, and once again it has found itself unable to make any meaningful headway in destroying him. Literally, his mindset is the only one I could have accidentally created that was immune to the adverse mental effects of Time Travel. I had no intentions initially to use time travel in any meaningful way, but I found that his character and abilities would only bring criticism and research if he returned to a civilisation that recognised him, and sought a better alternative than trying to rationalize him fighting off an entire cities worth of guards and huntsmen after escaping a lab of some sort._

 _No matter how badass, a level 17 dude ain't takin on the world and winning._

 _Just aint reasonable._

 _In reference to the future of this fic, for a span of time it will be centered around the Academy they are traveling to, a place shamelessly ripped from Couer Al'Aran's 'Professor Arc' and used because I like the ambiguous nature of the place. It could've been destroyed by Salem, or by faulting wiring starting a fire and panic drawing in Grimm, which means a lot of agency on my part._

 _I'm also going to be introducing other characters, which may play bigger roles than I know, as so far it seems that how important a character actually is seems to be determined only by my mood when writing._

 _For example, I finished the story of Tom-Tom Herder by making his father the main voice of a panicked crowd of civilians. I've continued to write about the story of Janette Greenburg even though I expected her to be a quest-giving NPC and that alone. I made a fairly good case, if I may say so myself, for why the Colony of Mount Glenn was lost as well as why no one really knows about the incident in Canon._

 _But enough of patting myself on the back._

 _Once Again, Thank you for reading and please leave a review if you have a question or complaint, I'll happily field both._

 _Alrighty then, A very tiny Author's note. That's my piece said._

 _Jericho Out._


	10. Level 1: Part 1

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _I ducked under the punch that shot through the air above my head, and rolled to the left as the snap kick that followed tried to catch me in the chest. As the much Faster, Taller, and Stronger opponent once again closed in I kept my guard up and tried to look as dense and blocky as possible. A Jab was met with my guard being rushed into it as I moved out of the Following hook that rocketed into the space my head had previously occupied, and my body ached as the force of the_ _ **Jab**_ _reverberated through it._

 _My Entire being shook, but I forced myself to power through the feeling just as I had for the past twenty minutes._

 _I knew that Nan was just trying to teach me how to dodge, but_ _ **God Damn**_ _did she hurt. As I slipped into a sloppy backwards tumble before barrel rolling to the right to avoid a foot that slammed into the ground with a resounding_ _ **Crash**_ _, I revelled in the strength that she showed. Even if she was horrible at controlling the speed and power of her attacks. I knew that I was losing strength faster than usual, as I always did when we fought or she was angry, but I powered through the effect as I knew I had to. Such overwhelming strength, such an overwhelming effect on her opponents, and speed to close the gap definitely explained why she had been the Chief of the Mount Glenn Huntsmen Corps for four decades._

 _Unfortunately for my literal crash course in dodging, the strength made my mistakes all the more painful as she hammered a fist into my side to fling me across the yard. I laid there breathing heavily and listening to the jeers and calls from the old codgers and young bucks lounging around the Huntsman Corps. I heard the Footfalls waltzing towards me and took a few moments of staring into the night sky before rolling up and stumbling to my feet and trying to bring my guard back up, no matter the ache in my bones or the throbbing of my muscles._

 _Then the nausea came over me and I doubled over at the waist and tried to keep my lunch down._

" _Stand up Whelp, bending over doesn't help for nothin'," Came the Gruff voice of Titania Staín, my Nan, as I continued to slump over at the waist, and refused to make eye contact, "Oh, come now. I've only hit you six times now, don't tell me that's enough to take you out." When I didn't respond with anything other than a muffled gag she took two steps forward and forced me upright with a hand._

 _As my head snapped up I took the opportunity to use the momentum of her move to swing my fist up and out towards her face. I smiled a vicious smile as my fist slammed into her face, relishing in the fleshy feeling of her cheek as her head finally moved in response to my blow, before_ _ **my**_ _cheeks bulged out and my tanned skin turned green. Yells, Jeers, and Cheers erupted as I fell to my hands and knees and unloaded my stomach on the ground while my Caretaker ruefully rubbed her Cheek._

 _After a moment I looked up at her only to be disheartened by the sight that awaited me. Her face, one side was far more coloured than the other to inflate my ego, was filled with a smile that was all teeth and no mercy. "Nice Shot, Austin. But if you're feeling well enough to fight me, you certainly must be up to some more_ conditioning _," She finished the vindictive sentence by pointing to the Hill that marked the end of the Training Yard, "Time to do more Hills, seeing as you've so much Energy,_ _ **Whelp**_ _."_

 _I wiped my mouth of the acrid taste that was beginning to leave me and my energy began to refill me as the spar was deemed over. I stood up tall, flashed what I hoped was an irritating smile, and turned to begin running up and down the Massive but fairly gentle Slope._

* * *

 _As her charge ran towards the hill, she smiled at his back. She felt the bolstering effect of her Aura leaving her and the constant pain that she had felt for over a decade began to creep back up, and the smile dimmed by a margin in response. Her hand finally left her cheek as her Aura finally healed the bruising flesh, and her thoughts began to become unable to be silenced, '_ Someone so young, so filled with vim and vigor, should be nowhere near an old hag such like me. I may have aged well, I may have had a strong body before all of this, but I find myself falling ill with no hope of recourse. No Antibiotic, no change of diet, and no neural treatment has yielded any result," _She grimaced as the young man finally disappeared over the lip of the Hill and she felt the subtle lack of his presence within her range and the noticeable lack of ambient energy that radiated off of her ward, '_ The only recourse has been to siphon a small amount of energy from those around me, and I find myself unable to subject others to that fate, no matter how much they may offer it to me. My life may be waning, but I will not leave behind someone unable to fight for themselves.'

 _I heard the huffing and puffing of a young man, determined to fight from the moment his eyes opened in the Hospital, running down the Hill to the Road below, '_ It's the least I can do for Austin, even if he deserves much better, he chose to stay with me, and I'll be _Damned_ if he leaves worse than when he came to.'

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

From the embers of the Burning wreckage of Mountain Glenn came survivors, but more importantly a story. The Military and the Council told theirs but they could not hold the tongues of the civilians that had lived it, and as they were asked time and time again the tale began to take on a life of its own.

Across the different stories only the ending stayed the same; When the world and those that were supposed to help them failed one the protected, a simple civilian just like themselves, rose to fight in their stead. Every single survivor could describe this man even they had forgotten his name, for none who he had saved could forget his countenance. They would speak of how every move he made or motion he acted out would come with the call of thunder and the destruction of steel and stone.

Some of the more realistic would end the story by describing a scene where he fought until the end of his life to protect the Tunnels from Grimm, some of the more pessimistic would claim that he failed or even had a hand in the events of Mount Glenn's Downfall to begin with, and the most Optimistic would claim that he escaped after closing off the tunnels to go onto to help some other poor souls.

These last people are humored and promptly ignored.

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

 **Skill Learned; Life on the Range, Level 5!**

 _ **What more could you want, a nice night and a campfire are all I need!… The snow is trivial.**_

 **Earn 5% more Health when sleeping rough or on a Bedroll, and 25% more meat from when Disassembled, and 25% chance to wake up before an ambush.**

 **Camping Tricks Learned;**

 **-Starting a fire with a piece of metal and rock.**

 **-?**

* * *

"What do you mean, ' _never chopped up an animal before_?!'" I demanded of my traveling companion, as I waved my pocket knife towards her flicking blood away from her, "How in the Hell do you make food, Girlie? Does it just fall out of the Sky onto your table?" I was so glad to have anything other than a Fish I had shot in a stream we had meandered past that I was beside myself, but had quickly become angered upon a certain revelation

She was steadfastly standing with her back to the meager fire that I had managed to set up, all because she didn't want to watch me crudely skin the rabbit she had caught, a fairly large Hare that ran from predators that were not nearly as fast as Taylor. I had been on my own for a long time, but even before that I had cooked for half of the dinners of my childhood. Taylor on the other hand… "And why the hell have you chopped up a rabbit?! That's not a normal thing for people to do!"

I finished using my knife to break the cartilage of the joints, muttering a "thank you" to it for it's Bounty, and began to rip pieces off and spear them with a branch with many offshoots and held it over the fire as I lightly glared at Taylor's back, "You can turn around now, you pansy." She did so with a huff and immediately sat down in front of the Fire within arms reach. Even with her squeamishness I saw that she was just as glad, if not more so, that we were no longer living on berries that I had to test for poisonous effects each and every time we wanted to eat.

We were in a small clearing in the Forest, and by far the single biggest patch of ground that was cleared of snow, and I had managed to Start a fire in the clearing after only three tries. The only reason I even managed that was because we were in a Forest of trees that I happened to recognize, More specifically Cedar. The bark acted as though it were a rag soaked in oil when you tried to spark it.

We both sat in silence, as we had most nights once the Shattered Moon had reached its zenith, staring at the Fire. The only difference is that Now Taylor was watching the Meat that was being cooked over the fire, all measly half of a pound of it, with the eyes of a Predator. After I began to see the black of char and soot appear on the meat I waited a few seconds, warranting that Overcooked was better than undercooked in the circumstances, before I removed half of it and handed it to Taylor, who had barely removed it from my grasp to begin to tear the chunks of meat from their places among the charred wood.

She looked positively thrilled to eat what had to be gamey and bad tasting food, but I pulled up the Minimap to think about what we were doing instead of eating the measly meal. We were now three Months of running, or jumping in my case, away from the base of the mount, and the line on my map was telling me to go West, towards the general direction of Vacuo, but also towards the massive Frozen desert in the way.

I wasn't concerned about our chances of survival, not with our physical abilities, but I was concerned about our mental states devolving along the way. I was already seeing signs that the lack of any other conversation besides me leading to her talking to herself in my stead, as though it were my fault that I had nothing much to say beyond a comment on the current state of the woods or weather. It wasn't like either of us were sparkling fountains of conversation, but she had begun to complain frequently about my lack of entertainment value.

We had found a few smaller villages along the way that had shown distrust towards us, which I assumed they did to all fairly intimidating visitors, but were open enough to giving us food if we performed various menial tasks for them. It was on one such day that I learned that Taylor could not move bags of flour because she was allergic, but I still haven't figured out if that is to Flour or Bags that weighed three times as much as she did. The Villages were welcome additions to an otherwise monotonous trip, but we never stayed more than a day or two and kept moving as once we had learned the date we had realised that School would start in a little over three months, and we had to keep moving to make it. The pace had been grueling, and we had made quite a bit of headway, though the terrain wasn't exactly made for travel.

We had repelled an attack of Grimm every other Day that we had traveled for the past three Months, and cold river baths could only wash so much. Thankfully Taylor had found another road earlier in the morning and we had followed it the entire day. I was particularly happy to find tracks of Vehicles in the snow, which meant that there was a relatively large town along the road. I shifted about the spot upon which I was sat, glad to have **[Iron Skin]** as a skill, because it had been invaluable on the trip. the skill had been leveled modestly over the course of my journey, due to hitting branches while running or jumping and rocks while sleeping.

Another thing that had been happening more and more often was that Fenrir would contact me when he had pertinent information.

 **[According to the Notes in the system, which are oddly full when it comes to maps, you are about ten hours at your traveling speed away from a Town named Burgess.]**

I nodded in acceptance while I began to eat, thoroughly unsurprised that the meal was bland and tasting of burnt wood, as The Map popped in front of my face and I Looked over the information that I was given while munching on my food.

* * *

"Thank the gods," came the insultingly relieved sigh from my traveling companion, "One more Knock Knock Joke and I swear I was gonna tear my own ears off."

I sent her a concerned look, not even bothering to spend a minute looking over the Large Town we had just walked into, before deciding to voice my concerns, "You were the one tellin' em, Girlie."

The look she returned was exasperated and probably, if I were to hazard a guess, a sign of jokes that went untold on our journey, "That was the fucking issue. Never in my life did I think that I'd be the one trying to squeeze conversation out of someone, but here I am, living and traveling with a gargoyle," She threw a hand in my direction with a look of disdain that was marred by the relieved smile on her face.

I smiled to myself, happy to see that Towns continued to bring her some peace, and made a show of pinching my skin to show that I was not in fact made of stone, "I prefer to think of myself as an Android, thank you very much. I'm more fleshy than those Craggy Bastards could ever hope to be," I smirked at the small chuckle, glad to see my penchant for horrible jokes still had the same effect.

' _Comedy,_ ' I pondered as we made our way down the freshly paved street, ' _Is the true great equalizer, not dust or firearms. Thrown through time, displaced and without a thing to call your own, but a good joke can get you back on your feet in no time._ '

As Taylor and I strolled with smile on our faces simply soaking in the safety and peace of our environments, I began to notice that none of the Citizens in view seemed to agree with our outlook on the place. They walked with heads down, hands in their pockets, and without a single smile to be seen, which I found odd as I couldn't feel a single hostile intent in the area, but the range of that skill was still lacking so maybe they had a reason. I let go of the thought to turn and inspect the surrounding buildings, noting that the further we walked the more industrial the town began to appear, with the more elegant and wooden homes being relegated to the portion of town near the gate, with all expansions in the area being squat, ugly Concrete buildings and apartments.

I was shaken from my thoughts when Taylor slapped my arm lightly and pointed at a White Van with a stylistically questionable Logo painted across the back of it as it cruised along down the street, but other than that I didn't see what was so important about it. Instead my eyes sought anything moving in the sky, and a smirk crept across my face when I saw a metallic shape rise from the other side of town and begin its journey through the Clouds. I didn't even wait to tell Taylor the plan, and I ignored the squawk that erupted from her as I crossed the street to begin and make my way towards the airfield.

* * *

 **Quest Updated; Feet were made for walking!**

 _ **And these feet are starting to hurt.**_

 **-Having spent nearly a month in the wilderness making your way towards your objective,** **Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youths** **, You have decided to find a more economic route.**

 **Rewards; + 2 Free points, and the [Travel Trance] Mechanic.**

* * *

The Marker on my map switched from the vague direction of West to a oblong shape outlined on my map, and I let my eyes drift from the line leading me along to the people that were within sight once more.

I blinked as I noticed that they were all making a noticeable effort to avoid us, as in when we stepped up onto the sidewalk the three civilians there shot us terrified looks before crossing the street. Stores that we walked past began to close and lock their doors, with people in the apartments above closing the windows, and the people outside were walking briskly to the remaining open doors. Suddenly the block was devoid of people and a heavy feeling was descending upon the air.

I ignored it and kept walking, but I was stopped by a hand gripping my elbow nervously, "Dude, seriously?" I glanced back at her without concern, "The temperature drops ten degrees, everybody runs inside, and you're just gonna keep on _walking_?"

Before I could respond in a manner that could only be described as snappy the still air was disturbed by the sound of engines and tires on asphalt, and coming from the direction of the Airfield was a small convoy of white vehicles all of which were barrelling towards our position. The clouds of dust brewing behind them were telling of the speed at which they moved, and as they came closer I began to make out the details of the machines and increasingly militaristic look.

Taylor immediately tensed in place, all the while furiously whispering that we should leave, before leaping high into the air to land on top of a building overlooking our position. I decided against action, though I began to use **[Osteogenesis: Hardening]** as they rumbled closer, and with such an arbitrary time limit like "until next rest" I didn't see why not, especially as the effect stacked and compounded. My Bones may as well have been made of reinforced steel after the three stacks I had applied on the trip to Burgess, but I applied another one on my forearms as an added precaution.

Eventually the group of vehicles rolled up to a stop, fanned out on either side of the block, before massive wing-like doors opened up and Soldiers began to pour out wearing Shining White Armor with Helmets that looked reminiscent of Motorcycle helmets, and pointing high end Dust Rifles at me. By the end of the half minute the well practiced and orchestrated maneuver, I counted no less than sixty barrels pointed in my direction. I wasn't too concerned with them as they weren't acting aggressive towards me, other than the pointing of weapons, and instead focused on the one red dot on my map as it took it's time to come around the side of the vehicle.

The individual that was leaking bloodlust was a tall and slender man with wavy brown hair that came down to his chin that outlined his high cheekbones and cold blue eyes, and the mouth that sat under a pencil thin moustache was frozen in a sneer. He wore a crisp white uniform with a sheathed sword that hung from his waist and squeaky clean boots that _click-clacked_ along the asphalt. As he came to a stop I noticed that every other soldier in the semicircle of firearms suddenly became tense and nervous, with grips on weapons being adjusted and stances fixed from textbook perfection to some unattainable position.

 **[Friedrich Hermann]**

 **[Level 25 Soldier]**

 **[** _ **Cold as Ice**_ **]**

If I was supposed to be impressed by the figure he cut, he would be sorely disappointed. I watched impassionately as he _clickity-clacked_ his way towards me until he stood only twenty feet away from me, staring down his nose at me. I felt my eyebrow begin to raise and did nothing to stop the utterly apathetic look that overcame my face.

He cleared his throat, and I was sincerely concerned that the sixty guns pointed at me were all about to erupt into a hellstorm of bullets, but they simply shifted uneasily as the man began to speak, "Stay right where you are, Visner. I have no idea why you decided to come to Burgess as though you were welcome but I am glad to state that you are _not_. Now, If you have come to turn yourself in I commend you for doing so, but if you have not…" He coughed and I heard every safety within earshot click off, "I truly must insist." The grin that mixed with his sneer was nothing short of Shit-Eating, and I simply stared back as I went over what in the world he was spouting.

And in all of my wisdom I somehow decided that I'd ignore whatever name he called me and focus on what he was saying instead. I narrowed my eyes at the Man, "And, what pray tell, would I be turning myself in for?" My hands balled where they were stored in the pockets of my ratty jacket. Stamina began to course throughout every part of my body as the white dots surrounding me swiftly changed to red, and I subtly began to shift my weight forwards as my Aura began to spike beneath my skin.

The haughty laugh that came from the man sounded like a horse chomping at the bit, and it was the only warning I had before a sword was hurtling towards my heart. My right palm tore through the material of my Jacket to catch the tip of the sword to hold him aloft in his thrusting position with a stunned expression glued to his face while my left hand rocketed towards his chest. The usual thunderclap that accompanied my blows resounded across the street as the man shot past the vehicles to bounce down the street, and I used the resulting silence that reigned from the abrupt violence to unfurl my weapon.

I heard the sounds of combat erupt behind me on the rooftops, and I knew that they had engaged Taylor. I decided that standing around would help no one.

I was already in the air by the time they opened fire on me, and the amount of damage they did was minor, with some of the smaller caliber rounds rebounding instead of piercing my skin. The terrified scream that erupted from my first victim as I slammed my knee into and through his chest armor brought me no pleasure, nor did the second Cry of Horror as I turned and scythed through the line of soldiers to my left. I ducked under a particularly gutsy Soldier's attempt to enter close range combat and slammed my fist into his sternum to send him flying through the ranks of soldiers behind.

When I saw them attempting to rally I launched myself into the air before activating **[Smackdown]** and landing in their midst to send them tumbling about. In under a minute I had laid waste to their ranks of Level elevens and twelves, mostly due to sheer force than anything else, and turned to face the actual threat once more. He stood fifty feet away holding his stomach and watching me, but when I turned towards him he started back to action and took a defensive stance.

"I may have underestimated you Visner, but I will not make the same mistake again. En Garde!" With a yell he aimed his blade at me and simply appeared in my guard, already moving well beyond what I was capable of. I swatted aside the last thrust of his saber and attempted to plant a foot in his chest, but only met air as he just as suddenly was twenty feet away looking mildly winded. He snarled as he slapped the guard of the weapon and the blade began to glow Blue before diving in once again with only a trail of ice where the tip of his sword traced through the air.

I threw up a block as he streaked by, and while the slice of the blade was dampened by the many skills I had the bite of Winter that bled through began to chew away at the bar of my health. Another streak of Blue appeared along my left hand side, and with it frost crept over my shoulder and arm. I growled and swung my chain above my head to gain momentum as even more blue lines began to appear around me and his marker on the minimap began to flicker about the area faster than I could register.

My Health was rapidly dropping as the temperature in my immediate area began to plummet and freeze over. As my health dipped past half I Activated **[Project Bloodlust]** and as the man came crashing to a halt I slammed him with my whirling weapon, sending him tumbling through the air to crash to the ground in a limp roll. I bared my teeth at the now well below half Health Bar that was flashing in my vision to make itself known as well as the pain that was erupting up and down my body, and I found that Apathy and irritation had been swiftly replaced with rage.

Now I needed to teach this pompous and violent ass a **Lesson**.

As Friedrich began to clamber up I pulled out my Pocket knife and broke the Ice that trapping me with my right hand and unholstering my Pistol with my left to pepper the man. The first round connected with his head in a flash of Aura and yell of outrage as he stumbled backwards for maybe two seconds, but that was all I needed to close the distance. With a **[Lunge]** I was within his guard with a knee buried in his right side, in the process smashing quite a few vials of what I assumed were Dust. In an instant a patch of ice about the size of a watermelon exploded out from the patch and froze everything within, including my knee.

I ignored the chunk of health that I lost as I was once more below half health by a sizable margin and grabbed his collar with my left hand and reared back my left as **[Thundering Blows]** and **[Adrenaline Rush]** activated as I sought to end this fight before he could freeze me solid for good. His eyes widened in a mix of pain and fear as he saw me bearing down on him, and even managed to swing his Saber once more at my face.

The only issue is that without Dust to empower it, it was a simple metal tool that dealt _physical_ damage. The blade bounced off of me as my **[Iron Skin]** activated in response to measly hit. My fist slowed none as it honed in on the man's Nose, a target that I was sure not to miss due to its size.

* * *

 **Damage Calculation = (565*(872*0.013))*1.775 = 11367 Dmg**

* * *

The Single Blow managed to pierce and shatter the Officer's Aura, as well as barely slowing my fist enough to not break the man's nose. It was enough however for the look of sheer terror to remain in his eyes as he stared up at me. I could imagine the thoughts going through his head; his sword now useless, his aura gone with the second landed attack of the short bout, and his entire force still trying to recover from their beatdown.

I thought that now, as our positions had been made clear, was the time to interrogate the man. I felt **[Intimidation]** Activate as I came to conclusion and growled at the man, who showed that he still held military bearing even if he was terrified as he simply swallowed and did not wet himself, unlike certain unnamed Dons had before him. "How about we start with why _the hell_ you were attacking me."

His eyes narrowed as he looked at mine and he answered without even a waver in his voice, "Because you are Visner Branwen, A wanted Bandit who has been attributed to over a hundred crimes, though before now none were ever violent," He mulled over his words as I silently willed him to continue, before grudgingly letting out what I assumed to be his own opinion on the situation, "I had considered nothing more than a nuisance, though I see the mistake in underestimating your prowess."

I let out a rumbling chuckle before smirking down at him to respond, "I can understand mistaking me for a bandit, I know I certainly look rough enough for it, But I'm certain that I am hard to mistake for anyone else."

His eyes hardened as he sneered up at me, his royal features now twisted in anger, "Do not play with me, Visner, You may have beaten me but you will not fool me. You made a mistake in letting yourself be seen by our security cameras on your last Dust Raid," He smiled as I simply raised an eyebrow at him, "I saw it myself, and if there is one thing I remember it's those eyes, red as the night on the camera. It was why I put out the Watch for men with red eyes, and why someone called you in."

"If you've only seen his eyes on tape, how can you be sure it's this Visner you're talking about?" I asked calmly. I wasn't too concerned with this, though being a wanted criminal could be a major pain I was certain that I could prove my innocence or find some other poor sap with red eyes to blame it on. Might even find the true culprit.

His eyes narrowed and his sneer turned only into a determined frown, "My boss said that he had had run ins with the Branwens before, and that you had declared a family vendetta on the SDC and him specifically."

I thought about my options before dropping the man on shaky feet, "Then take me to him, and he can tell you that I'm not the man you're looking for," The man was simply blinking at me, and I thought I could hear the reverberating sound of a smack behind me, but I didn't see what was so odd about it. If the man knew who Visner was, then he'd know that I wasn't him. Simple logic, though Friedrich seemed to be having trouble accepting it, so I thought I'd sweeten the Deal for him, "I'll make you a deal; I go with you, into your Headquarters with you, to talk to your boss, and if you're right you'll have me dead to rights and I won't fight you. But if I'm right you give me and my friend a ride to where we're going _and_ you owe me a favor."

"This is ridiculous," I heard from my shoulder as Taylor materialized to interject. I paid her no mind, only noting that her weapons were equipped and she was breathing a tad heavily. Friedrich's eye brows furrowed as he searched my face and only nodded his assent as he sheathed his blade and attempted to save face.

* * *

We were corralled at gunpoint into a small Office at the top of a rather large building emblazoned with the same logo that had been everywhere throughout the town, a town that Taylor had informed in transit was most likely a Company mining town for the Large Dust Mining Company. I ignored the barrel as it jabbed me in the lower back and simply continued to stroll at the same leisurely pace as I was assured of my innocence. Taylor stumbled as they did the same to her to which she responded with only a glare in their general direction, which was pretty mild for her, before resuming her march.

The only fixture in the entire office other than the large wooden desk with a sleek computer with a large imposing man behind it was a small picture frame that seemed to hold an award of some sort. The issue was that he was so large and imposing that he looked squished into the chair and bent over his keyboard unable to see the keys beneath his meaty hands.

It was comical to say the least.

 **[Klaus Spietzel]**

 **[Level 59 Vanguard]**

 **[** _ **Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright**_ **]**

When he looked up and made eye contact with me, I saw an odd look come over his face for the shortest of times before it vanished and I was left not knowing what it had been. His eyes flickered over past me to rest on Taylor for a moment before continuing to the men now standing at attention behind us. "Dismissed. Hermann, You stay," I heard snappy salutes from behind me and the grunts walked out of the room, and only once the door had closed did he continue speaking, "Hermann, Report."

He nodded and began to talk, and I noticed with a little satisfaction his nose was still nasally from the slowly mending broken nose he was nursing, "Sir, There were reports of sightings of a man with red eyes near the Entrance, so I took my Platoon to investigate-"

His Boss interrupted him with a baleful eye and stern demeanor, "I assume that it was your men that were just admitted to the Corpsmen's Building, Correct?"

Friedrich turned red in indignation but answered calmly, if a little tersely, nonetheless, "Yessir. As I was saying, I took them to investigate the sightings and found this man standing on the sidewalk. When I engaged this man and tried to have him come in, he refused and we fought."

I smiled at the bear of a man that sat behind his desk, and I saw his heavily maintained Beard twitch in response. Klaus stared at the Friedrich, and I reveled in the way that he squirmed under the glare, before stating simply, "And according to your nose and state of dress I must conclude that you were not… successful in your attempt to apprehend this man? Because he surely looks better off than you."

This time there was no shame and little to no heat in the glare that was thrown my way, "Yessir. He agreed to come back here to clear his name, and as I had no other option I agreed to return."

Spietzel stared at him before an eyebrow quirked at him silently. I had to suppress a snicker as I recognized the expressions and mannerisms as some of the ones I had picked up from Nan and a few other crotchety Veteran Huntsmen. "I feel as though you are leaving something out."

Friedrich's face twisted into a look of utter disgust at the thought he was having, but he kept his head high as he answered, "Yessir. I have seen no uncouth behavior in the entire time observing him. I can gladly report zero casualties among my men, even though it seems he would easily have been able to kill them, and in fact had to hold back to avoid doing so. He had me dead to rights and released me without much of a fuss, and has displayed none of the characteristics of Visner that you have described in your briefings."

"I thought you looked bitter," Came Klaus's much more blunt tone as he rounded on me with a serious look on his face, "What he's tryin' to say is that he's sorry about attacking you, even if he's not going to say it."

As Friedrich began to splutter about justifications under law or policy, Taylor snorted and finally relaxed while I laughed a hearty laugh and joked back with him, "I've dealt with show not tell Women long enough to recognize that for myself," and I considered it a victory that a smirk appeared under the man's beard.

Friedrich stopped spluttering enough to form a coherent sentence to lay the matter to a rest before he completed his volcano impression, "Sir, do you recognize this man?"

I was surprised to see the man nod his head before answering the question, "No, though he seems slightly familiar, he is not in fact Visner Branwen, much too tall for that."

I blinked at the information, but shrugged off the confusion in favor of rounding on Friedrich in his vulnerable stunned state, "You'd better not welch on our deal, bub."

"He won't, the stick in his ass won't allow him to," came the sigh of his commanding officer. At this point entirely fed up with the insults being hurled his way Friedrich left in a huff that did nothing to avoid ridicule, and Klaus and I laughed openly once the door had been slammed. A moment passed before He waved us towards the chairs sitting in front of his desk, and once we were situated he narrowed his eyes at us shrewdly, "Now, first things first, I apologize for my subordinates behavior, and my inability to see his overreaction coming from a mile off."

I nodded in acceptance, while Taylor grumbled, though she had been doing so since we had entered the building. Her roughed up and in need of mending leather jacket moved as she shrugged her less than enthusiastic agreement with me, her eyes not leaving Klaus's. He continued, now moving in a much more concerted and meaningful manner as his hands came to steeple under his chin, "But now we must discuss why you were in our little town to begin with, and what you were expecting to do here."

I saw no real reason to lie to the man and shrugged before responding, "We've been on the road for a few months now trying to get to The Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youths, and we've been hoping to find a faster method of getting there than walking. We saw the Road and followed it here, and when I tried to get to where the Bullheads lift off and land at I was accosted by your employee," And for a moment his eyes stayed narrowed as he held my gaze, and I did so without anxiety or fear, even considering his Level and position. There was no reason to think he would be dishonorable or try and abuse us in the situation, mostly because of how he had responded to his man's report more than anything.

Eventually he nodded before pulling out a sheet of paper to begin writing. As he did so he continued to Question us, "Are you on your way to apply?"

I opened my mouth to answer but a hasty glare from Taylor stayed my mind long enough for her to take over our side of the conversation, "Yes sir, we're both on our way to apply. It's been a dream of mine for a long time to become a huntress, and Austin here is uniquely suited for the line of work." I snorted at the understatement, as literally since I could remember I had been fighting and she was more accurate than she knew.

His eyes shot up to meet hers before darting over to me and I saw the fire of recognition bloom on his face before he simply continued to write furiously with a nod, "And where are you two from?"

Once more I refrained from answering, allowing Taylor to cover the work of spinning a Tale for our supposed backstory just as she had in previous villages when the curious townsfolk would eventually ask. I found it odd that she had used a different story each and every time, and had claimed that one of us had to cover their tracks and it certainly wouldn't be me doing so.

Subtlety isn't exactly my strong suit.

"We came from a small trading village on the outer territories of Vale, well away from any city walls, and the place served more as a safe haven for weary travelers to restock on supplies than anything else. There was the pub, the Inn, the Meadery-" I heard her putting every ounce of Acting and storytelling ability into the performance, but was interrupted by her audience for another Question.

"And why are the two of you traveling together, beyond the trip to the Academy. As in, How do you know each other?" I saw the self-satisfied smile of a job well done flash across her face, before her face pulled into a surprisingly believable frown and her blue eyes flashed in the pale light of the office.

"We were the last survivors of our Village, the only ones to make it out. He may be an idiot, but he's all I've got," She said, and I smiled lazily in response to the statement. Even if she was just playing it up and we were still basically strangers even after three months, I feel like we had an understanding established. And we trusted each other enough to fight together, so what else more did you need?

"Right," Came the short reply, before he signed whatever he was writing, folded the paper before he pulled out an envelope to place it within. He sealed it with a stamp of some sorts and slid it across the table until Taylor tentatively stopped it and picked it up. He leaned back in his chair and met my eyes once more, "That is a letter of recommendation, as well as a signed letter from a SDC division security manager that states that your school fees should be charged to my personal account. It will help you immensely in your attendance to the Academy, as I know the Headmaster Personally she will no doubt call me to ask why I recommended you. I believe a description of the state of those you fight will suffice."

A large smile came over my face as I beamed in appreciation while Taylor suddenly looked apprehensive, but I paid it no mind. Like all issues she had, if it involved me she'd tell me and if it didn't she wouldn't. "I assume this is your version of a bribe to keep us from telling people the SDC attacked two civilians with deadly force?" She questioned with apprehension and a little bit of hope.

He smiled at her, a tiny thing full of mirth and understanding, "If that is how you choose to see it, you are free to do so. I, however, choose to see it as an apology to soothe hurt feelings over a misunderstanding," Then he winked and chuckled, as though he knew a secret that we did not, "But either way, admission starts at the end of the Week and I believe that your ride has been arranged by Hermann. He should be back in a minute to escort you to the Tarmac and maybe even apologize. I must return to my work, but I once again reiterate that I am sorry for the trouble that was caused."

I laughed as I stood, seeing a dot rapidly approaching the office, "Sir, Respectfully, I'm just glad I'm not walking the rest of the way." I turned and made my way to the door, unsurprised to see Friedrich open the door with a scowl on his face, "Freddy! There you are!"

The Scowl deepened as Taylor stood and shook hands with the security Manager, "I'd ask you to not butcher my name, as it is more cultured and noble than you could ever hope to be. Besides the point, I have fulfilled the terms of our deal. There is a Bullhead that will take you anywhere within six hours flight."

My smirk turned a tad vicious as I silently gloated about winning both the bet and our fight, but Taylor appeared at my elbow with a sour look on her face, "Stop with the bickering and lead us to the Airfield. I want to put this place behind me as fast as possible."

I faked an affronted look as we walked out of Klaus' Office, "But you were so happy when we got here, what happened that got your panties in a twist?"

Her face began to turn the shade of the sun as her eye began to twitch, before she slapped me upside the head, "That was before you decided to fight a Squad of SDC guards and make a stupid bet that nearly cost me my freedom!" As we continued walking and I continued to mess with her I saw that the Quest screen had once again popped, and smiled as I realized that the three month ordeal was almost over. But my eyes widened as another screen erupted next to the first, with startling information.

* * *

 **Quest Updated: Feet were made for walking!**

 _ **And these feet are starting to hurt.**_

 **-Having secured a better form of transportation, continue on to your destination;** **The Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youth** **.**

 **Rewards; + 2 Free points, and the [Travel Trance] Mechanic.**

* * *

 **Quest Received: Making an Entrance!**

" _ **It's all about first impressions, Whelp."**_

 **Pass the Academy's Entrance exam!**

 **Rewards:**

 **Succeed; Increased reputation with [Taylor Chesterton], Access to the Academy Grounds, and 1000 exp.**

 **Failure; Death, Maiming, and Tax reports.**

* * *

' _Death, Maiming, and Taxes,_ ' I thought morbidly, remembering the time spent searching through the City Archives, ' _Death by a million papercuts is_ not _the way I wanna go._ '

* * *

 _Interlude C_

* * *

Klaus Spietzel waited until he could no longer hear the footsteps of the young pair that had been in his office before pulling the Bottle of Hundred year old whiskey out from under his desk. He poured himself a Glass and another for a Friend long gone. He looked up at the Single Decoration in his office before clinking the glass with his own.

In the frame was an award for Honorable Service to the Valean Military, a company patch, and a photo that showed him to be about a decade younger than the present. On the Patch was a Mailed fist erupting from the ground while on fire, and in the Picture was the man that he toasted to, his old Commander.

Klaus sipped from his glass, content that he had done his part to repay a debt long ago promised by a Dead man long gone, but not forgotten.

He had no idea how the Monster of Mount Glenn had arrived in his town looking the same as he had so long ago, but he wished him luck on his way. For wherever he went he was sure he would need it.

* * *

 _End of Interlude_

* * *

 **Austin Stáin**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 17: 420/1700 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 25618/25618 HP Regen: 117 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1310, Stm Regen: 37 Stm/Sec**

 **Str: (98) 101**

 **Dex: 31**

 **Con: (128) 131**

 **Agi: 8**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 69**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 565.4**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 10196**

 **Pistol Atk: 202**

 **Def: Phys; 70%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_ **[Hidden Modifier of +15 Base on Attraction Value].**

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha when interacting with those that you have saved before.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent.**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Enduring];** _**I can still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut]; For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

* * *

 **Skills:**

 _ **Combat:**_

 **-Brawling! Level 36, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **I fight like I eat; Aggressively.**_

 **A sloppy Hand to Hand style focused on raw physicality over finesse.**

 **Skill gives access to all Techniques used and observed by the Skill.**

 **+180% to all damage done with this Skill.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second**

 **-Chain Mastery. Level 19, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **The Weapon of Goons world-wide, learn to be the ultimate goon.**_

 **+95% Atk while a Chain is equipped.**

 **-Pistol Mastery, Level 4, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **The gun of Protagonists and Trash Enemies worldwide, I wonder which one you are?**_

 **+20% Atk With a pistol.**

 **+40% Critical Damage with a Pistol.**

 **+10% Accuracy with Pistols.**

 **+Lvl/5 Extra Rounds per reload.**

 **-Explosives Mastery, Level 11, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **I actually wanted to be a Florist, ya know.**_

 **+55% Atk when using explosives.**

 **+55% time when disabling an explosive.**

 **-Thundering Blow (Tier 2), Level 6, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **The World shall know the Strength of Storms in my Wake.**_

 **For every point of Stm spent, increase the physical damage of one Attack or Skill by 1.3%.**

 **Skill Branched;**

 **-Power Throw; Level 2.**

 _ **Kobe for accuracy, Yeet for Power. YEET!**_

 **Thrown projectiles now have 55% of the Power Attack benefit.**

 **-Rend; Level 6.**

 _ **Rip and Tear**_

 **Bonus Damage to Inanimate Materials, do 120% more with Thundering Blows.**

 **-Blocking. Level Max, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **"Did you tell her about your Herpes?"**_

 **The Art of Blocking an attempt.**

 **(Active) Costs (Dmg-Con) Stm/Block.**

 **Blocks 95% of damage on a successful Block.**

 **-Skill Learned: Mitigation, Level 23, [Grimm] Skill.**

 _ **Pain is as temporary as it is annoying.**_

 **Take 46% less physical Damage.**

 **-Skill learned: Grapple, Level 2, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **You're mine now, I've literally got you by the Balls!**_

 **Deal 90% less damage than a normal attack, but inflict [Grappled] Status upon foe.**

 **-Skill Learned: Adrenaline Rush, Level 6, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **Feel the Burn!**_

 **Burn Hp to restore Stm, ratio of 11 Hp:1 Stm.**

 **Using over 81% of Health for this skill grants the Status [Strain].**

 **-Skill Learned; Second Wind, Level 3, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **Put me back in Coach!**_

 **Burn Stm to restore Hp, ratio of 1:3.**

 **-Splash, Level 6, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **Splish, Splash, I was takin' a bath.**_

 **Physical Attacks now have an increased area of effect.**

 **Area of impact increased by a 1.3 Modifier.**

 **-Osteogenesis, Level 10, [Grimm] Skill;**

 **Cost to use, .90% of Health and Stamina per 1% of Bone Structure affected.**

 **Known Effects;**

 **-Regen; Replace lost Bone with your own vitality, decreasing Limb regen Effect Durations by 99%.**

 **-Hardening; Temporarily Increase the Amount of Damage Limbs can Take by 50%. Lasts until next Rest.**

 **-[?]**

 **-Panic!, Level 2, [Human] Skill;**

" _ **Well, you aren't the ugliest thing I've ever seen. I've also seen your mother.**_ "

 **Depending on relative level and threat level, as well as active Cha modifiers, targeted individuals will become aggressive towards you. Inflicts the [Taunted] Status.**

 **2% More Damage taken from and dealt to those with the [Taunted] Status.**

 _ **Movement:**_

 **-Running! Level 17, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **Run Bitch Run, Dey gonna get you!**_

 **Move at 320% of your base movement speed.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/sec.**

 **Maximum running Speed: 7.36 mph**

 **-Skill Learned: Power Jump! Level 14, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **If**_ **that** _**bird shat on your car it'd dent the Hood.**_

 **Through pure physicality Soar through the Air.**

 **Costs 37 Stm to jump your Str in Feet, Current base Distance 56 feet.**

 **Costs 79 Stm to Jump twice your Str in Feet.**

 **Costs 121 Stm to Jump Thrice your Str in Feet.**

 **Stm = N*37 + (N-1)*5, where N is the Coefficient of your strength, to reach N*Str Feet. -Skill Branched: Lunge, Level 8.**

 _ **Easy, Tiger.**_

 **Deal 180% of Attack after travelling a distance equal to your [Power Jump].**

 **-Skill Branched; Smackdown, Level 3.**

 **When landing deal Damage for the distance traveled; for every foot deal 6 Damage, in an area of Distance/97.**

 _ **Detection:**_

 **-Skill Learned: Detect Bloodlust, Level 17, [Human] Skill.**

 _ **Is it just me or does it feel a little Deadly in here?**_

 **Detection Range: 51 feet.**

 **-Skill Branched: Project Bloodlust, Level 10, [Grimm] Skill.**

 **(Res*2-EnemyRes)% Chance to Inflict [Stun] Status.**

 **Target must have at least (20-.5*Lvl) 15 Wisdom to be affected.**

 **Costs 20 Stm/sec.**

 **+Skill Learned: Instinct, Level 15 (Tier 2), [Grimm/Faunus] Skill.**

 _ **My eyes are one of five senses I can use, so why rely on just one?**_

 **(Passive) Detection: 70% chance of detecting (increase to Passive 30%) [Stealthed] Units.**

 **(Active) Detection*(1+.5*Level) = *8.5, move at ½ Movement Speed while Active. If still, double the effect.**

 **Base Range = 150 feet.**

 **Senses: Hearing, Smell/Taste.**

 _ **Passives:**_

 **-Skill Learned: Physical Conditioning, Level 4, [Human] Skill.**

 _ **Got Gains, Bro.**_

 **Increase Str and Con by Lvl %.**

 **Current Increase = + 4%**

 **-Skill Tree: Veteran Intuition, [Human] Skill:**

 **.5% increase in damage dealt and .25% decrease in damage received from this Enemy type.**

 **-Enemies Encountered;**

 **-Hooligans Level 21: 10.5% increase , 5.25% decrease.**

 **-Organized Criminals Level 14: 7% increase, 3.5% decrease.**

 **-Pack-Type Grimm Level 5: 2.5% increase, 1.25% decrease.**

 **-Roamer-Type Grimm Level 4: 2% increase, 1% decrease.**

 **-Trapper-Type Grimm Level 4: 2% increase, 1% decrease.**

 **-Flier-typer Grimm Level 4: 2% increase, 1% decrease.**

 **-Skill Learned: Intimidation; Level 7.**

 _ **You don't want to see me angry.**_

 **For every 5% of health the target is missing, 7% more likely to answer a question honestly.**

 **-Iron Skin: Level 4, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **I heard that a master of this skill is so thick skinned that he could tank a million insults without crying.**_

 **Any Attacks that deal damage under the This Skill's Level times five are ignored for purposes of damage.**

 **Threshold = 20 Dmg.**

 _ **Tedium (No notification):**_

 **-Skills Learned: First Aid, Level 5, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **That doesn't look quite right, the arm bone connects to the Shoulder bone, right?**_

 **Heal yourself or another when not in enemy line of sight or sustaining damage.**

 **Heal 25 Hp/Sec, requires appropriate medical supplies and 4 Stm/Sec.**

 **-Sewing, Level 7, [Human] Skill:**

 _ **Should have listened to Nan.**_

 **Restore Cloth Item Durability 6% per Level, requires Needle and Thread**

 **-Computer Science. Level 18, [Human] Skill;**

 **+36% words per minute typed.**

 **Words per minute =(1+.02(Lvls of Computer Science)(80+(Int*3)) = 112.8 Words per minute.**

* * *

 _As you can see I have Labeled exactly where the Skills Austin has acquired come from, whether from his Human or Grimm Nature, which is fun._

 _Sorry about the how long it took and what I consider to be the weakest chapter to date, with quite a bit of lore building and explanation as well as a necessary timeskip, one that will referenced quite a bit by the two intrepid travelers. I'd like to point out that the snow that's on the ground is simply geographical in nature, not due to the season as it is now summer in the frozen desert of Vacuo. Next Chapter will be much more higher energy as he and his study Partner Fenrir take the Entrance Exam and the Combat portion of the exam, as well as the first part of the survival Test, which will be a testament to Austin's Protagonist Luck I assure you. Randomized encounters and he managed to get every single hardest challenge along the way._

 _It'll be chaotic._

 _The reason for the time between chapters was that I was hashing out the next Arc as well as planning in general, which is also why this chapter was an asshole to right, as the ideas for further along were clouding my mind and making it hard to write the relatively less important chapter._

 _Anyways,_

 _Read and review the continually growing pile of trash that is this Fic._

 _Jericho out._


	11. Level 1: Part 2

**[Two weeks after the Fall of Mount Glenn]**

" _Train with me."_

 _My eyes opened from the pseudo-sleep I entered to go over information from Fenrir to see Taylor standing in front of me. It was the first thing she had said since we had set up our modest Campsite, and I had been scared that she was angry with me. I had learned that she wasn't a great traveling companion when she was angry. I blinked up at her from the Log I was using as a headrest, barely understanding what she said. "Why do you want to Train?" It's not exactly like we were swimming in food at the moment and that meant conserving energy whenever possible._

 _She scoffed at me before kicking me in the shin, "Because we're going to get enrolled in an Academy for Hunters-in-training, and I am not gonna be bottom bitch," She stood there, arms crossed with a look that practically screamed 'You got a problem with that?'_

" _Alright, I guess," I grumbled as I stood, mentally decreeing to myself that only my basic skills would be used. Maybe it was a tad bit arrogant, but I felt that liberal use of_ _ **[Thundering Blows]**_ _was overkill for anything outside of life or death situations. And it went back to the_ _ **[Notes]**_ _page on the Skill, written by own personal Grimm Expert of course._

* * *

 **Thundering Blows; [Grimm] or [Half-Grimm] Only Skill.**

 **A skill that is developed by concentrating the force of the body into a single movement, with the plane of an attack carrying so much force that the air in front of the swing is pushed away at such high velocities that it leaves a vacuum in the air in front of the attack.**

 **The resulting sound is caused by the surrounding air rushing back into the space as fast as it left.**

 **The single Deadliest skill in your arsenal and the only reason that Larger Grimm pose such a physical threat.**

* * *

 _I pulled off my jacket and dropped it behind me to land on the Log, before tightening and resecuring my weapon. Taylor began to warm up, the yellow light of her Aura lighting up the Area around her, while I began to stretch out my legs. The difference in our Auras were immediately apparent as I willed mine to rise to the surface of my skin, my Steel colored Aura nowhere near as explosive nor did it react so swiftly to simply being called. Hers flashed out from her attacks to extend the range and the potency while mine simply refused to follow my orders. It seems that the Aura was like the person to which it belonged; which meant mine was stubborn and hard to control._

 _It honestly felt like trying to dam a river with only a rag._

 _The Steel substance was always a step behind me, and according to Fenrir it was due to my trash Wis Stat which governs Both Casting Time for Aura based techniques and the Success rate for them. According to him the only reason it responded at all was because it_ _ **wanted**_ _to. I basically had a five percent chance to succeed every Aura based technique I tried, which included the basic Aura Manipulation Techniques that Taylor tried to show me._

 _My Aura Flared as Taylor came crashing into me, only to fizzle out as I rolled along the ground._

" _This is gonna take a lot of Work," Came the satisfied voice of my Trainer, "But hey, if I hit you enough maybe it'll work like a powerlifting routine and I'll get stronger."_

 _I sighed as I stood up and once again called my Aura to the surface, mentally preparing myself for the Potentially hours long training session._

* * *

 **[Present Day]**

I groaned as I flopped out of the Bullhead directly onto the sand underneath it, feeling every bit as green as I knew I probably looked. I growled and flopped a limp hand at the sound of laughter, trying my hardest to adjust to being out of the Sky once more. The sound of boots hitting sand told me that Taylor had hopped out but My vision was filled with sand. The night sky was all but out of sight, hidden behind howling winds and clouds lightly dusting the area in snow.

As it turns out, the physical changes that occur because of the **[Listening]** and **[Instinct]** Skills are almost all in the Inner ear and affect how easily your eardrum responds to differences in temperature, vibration, and pressure in the air. This coupled with the slightest amount of turbulence made me _extremely_ sick. The **Only** reason I had made it the entire trip without repainting the interior of the Vehicle was the **[Iron Will]** Attribute I had inherited from Nan, and that was still a close call.

I watched the **[Status Screen]** in bliss as the **[Airsick]** Status slowly but surely ticked down in percentage points. It was odd watching the numerical representation of your own sickness as it ran its course, but I powered through and tried to stand. By the time I had finally gotten my feet under me I was no longer Green in the Gills, and looked up to find an odd sight waiting for me.

Ripped straight from a Movie stood a Large Building, almost a Castle or Palace from the obvious detail that was carved into every inch of it. It was sprawling in size, and had multiple smaller buildings that were obviously added over time, as the composition of their material was of a different nature entirely. The light brown of the sandstone made it seem like the major hall had risen straight from the desert itself, and the Tall spires reminded me of the large Skyscrapers in the Southside, but with less of a purpose.

It might be abnormal to think so, but I never saw architecture as beautiful. What may have invoked the feelings of awe in others simply made me question the utility of it. For instance, why in the world did the Spires have bulbous tops placed upon them? In other parts of the building it was obvious they understood how to make a triangle look appealing, and I have to assume that Triangular prisms are easier to support and build that giant sandstone onions.

I futilely shook my head to dislodge the sand that had managed to find it's way there before stopping when I noticed that Taylor was standing there watching me with her arms crossed. I slowly turned towards her, "Yes..?"

"Remember what we talked about on the way here?" She asked with an imperious attitude. The look would have been included if her hair wasn't being whipped around by the winds of the Desert in an odd combination of Gorgon and Weather Lady.

"I wasn't that out of it," I grumbled good-naturedly as I began to walk towards the Nearest Building to ask for directions, "I was airsick, not comatose."

"If you hadn't have been comatose you would've heard the directions the Pilot was giving me for the Campus," She fired back with an arched brow and wide smile as she walked towards a different building. And when I say 'Walked' I of course mean, Fired off like a rocket leaving me only with a blast of sand and light in the frozen night with only the sparse lighting of the Windows and a few walkway Lights to see how utterly alone I was.

If it had been anywhere else, my minimap would've been able to track her, but with the howling of the winds I essentially limited to sight and Smell, which wasn't doing too much better than Hearing in the mild Snow and Sand Storm. I growled into the empty air before stomping towards the nearest building with a window lit up, unable to even see a sign to guide me around the campus.

I stomped through the sand, thankful that I had finally grown into the Steel Toed Boots I had worn for technically eleven and a half years, though it only felt like a year and a half, and the sand had less area to fill inside of them. I grumbled through the Notification that popped up in front of my face, not stopping in my stomping to read it.

* * *

 **Skill Learned; Exposure!**

 _ **When the world decides to piss all over your plans, bring an umbrella.**_

 **Through repeated exposure to the more extreme elements of nature, you have gained the ability to ignore its effects on you.**

 **[Environmental] Effects are (Lvl)% less effective on you!**

* * *

I growled once more as there was no discernable difference in how much of a _nuisance_ the weather was being and irritably knocked on the door of a massive Brick of a building. With my senses as fogged up by the weather as they were I could only wait by the door until I heard the locks on the Door rumbling and shaking the door as they were opened. The heavy Wooden door swung inwards, and for a second I thought the door had opened on it's own before my vision was filled with the Name tag of someone, and my eyes swept down to meet the multicoloured eyes of a young woman about my age looking up at me with a blink before a look of mischievousness overcame her.

The first thing I noticed about her was the Bowler hat that rested on her head, the second thing I noticed was a shock of Pink hair held in a ponytail behind her head, and the third I noticed was the Singularly Extravagant application of makeup to her left eye while her right was covered by her swooping hair. Her Outfit was what I assumed the uniform for the Academy looked like, Sand brown slacks under a Darker brown light jacket. I knew that she was female due to the way that she filled out the uniform along with the Rounder shape of her face.

 **[Cosma Politan]**

 **[Level 23 Mesmer]**

 **[** _ **Mass Confusion**_ **]**

As usual I decided to waste no time, despite how grueling the weather was I had places to be, "Where's the Administrative building?" I stood outside the door so as to not look like I was trying to crowd her in or intimidate her. I _was_ raised a gentleman, no matter how bad at broadcasting that I was, after all.

Her only visible eyebrow began to raise into her hairline, and I saw the other one do the same when she brushed her bangs out of her eye, as she craned her head around me as though she were looking for something, before they returned to my face. Then without warning she turns around and yells into the building behind her, which I could only assume was a Library from the amount of Books littering the ground, " **Mrs. M, I'm goin for a walk**!" in a shrill and feminine _screech_ that nearly gave me vertigo.

The mischievous smile stole across her face as she turned back to me and leant down to retrieve something as an unholy amount of racket erupted from within the Library proper and I saw paper and books alike tossed towards the ceiling as cursing began to follow the cacophony. The small troublemaker stood up straight with a bag hanging from her shoulder, "We should probably get out of here," she told me innocently, and the sight of a kindred spirit, whether it be a prankster, trickster, or even just being a little shit, I felt an honest smile spread across my face.

I grabbed the door handle and gave her my best impression of a chauffeur or butler with a bow from the waist with one gesturing out into the Sands, and a tinkling laugh belted from her as she dashed out into the night. I closed the Door behind her and followed much more subdued in my pace, but still able to keep my new guide in my sights the entire time.

* * *

After ten minutes of trekking through the Elemental Chaos that was the Weather, I had gained two levels of **[Exposure]** and learned that my chaperone was most likely shirking some duty by helping me, for the carefree way that she hopped and skipped around the half-frozen grounds spoke volumes in the language of problem children worldwide telling me a tale of skipped detentions and the same smile she had given me; predatory and opportunistic in style, and without a care for those that told her to stop.

On the downside, with the weather as it was we couldn't speak to one another and were forced to make the walk in silence. On the upside, in the silence I had Learned another Skill when she had tried to communicate with me using bizarre hand signals.

* * *

 **Skill Learned; Sign Language, Level 1!**

 _ **What odd world have we walked into, where people can speak with their hands. What next, fighting with their Brains!?**_

 **Fluency; Understand the Alphabet and unshortened gestures most of the time.**

* * *

I had made a mistake when the Screen popped in the middle of her trying to show me a sign, with her mistaking my hand movement for a different word and her going off on a long and elaborate string of Hand signs before I managed to convey that I had no idea what was going on with a face palm and the two letters 'n' and 'o'. After that she had _Harrumphed_ and done her best to ignore me for the final stretch before we made it to our destination, a Building of comparable size to the Library and equally brick-like in structure.

Another commonality is that my new buddy seemed less than keen to enter, but when she saw what I assumed was the look that Taylor had dubbed the "Lost Retarded Puppy" she relented with a put upon sigh and marched towards the building with me. For my part I couldn't care less whether or not she followed me, though the conversation would have been nice.

I opened the door to the Building, and found myself in a fairly quaint and comfortably furnished Room with a Desk near an open Hallway with one chair behind it and a Computer that made my programmer's senses start tingling. Around the border of the Room were Chairs and plush couches, and upon one of them sat Taylor with a shit-eating grin. I ignored her, knowing that it would annoy her, and instead turned to look at my Guide who was in the process of wiping sand and snow off of her hat and grumbling under her breath about it.

"All passengers are now allowed to exit the cabin, thank you for traveling with Cosma Airlines, which is apparently now working for Free," She grumbled as she looked up at me, and now without the interference of Nature I could hear her just fine.

I smiled at her as I began to move towards Taylor, "I'm giving you a bad review just for the sass. And I'm personally just glad you wanted to get out of there just as much as I wanted to get here."

The smile appeared on her face once more as she replaced her hat and followed me through the room, "Yeah, that was awfully lucky you happened by. I was certain that I was going to be stuck serving that entire Detention before you happened along," Then she made a show of looking around before leaning in to me in mock conspiratorial whisper, "My usual patsy was busy and I thought I'd let him get some rest this week, ya know before the start of the next semester. " She shook her head somberly, "Taught me a lesson, it's the last time I'm bein nice. I was only caught for bein a good person."

I nodded seriously as my eyes flickered to Taylor's, who looked thoroughly unimpressed with the show, "Of course, of course," I extended a hand towards Taylor, and decided to continue the joke for as long as I could to annoy her, "I understand completely. This is my Partner, or Accomplice if you would, Taylor and she likes to throw me under the bus every once in a while."

I saw the heat creep up her cheeks and her ears begin to flicker as anger began to boil in her, "You're never going to let that go are you? It was _one_ time and I said I was sorry," Another Flick of the Ear, "Not to mention it was months ago."

Cosma nodded another solemn nod, this time towards Taylor, "That is an issue with Patsies isn't it? Makin' em trust you after you get them in trouble," She hopped lightly onto the couch with a grace that I could never hope to achieve to sling an arm around her Shoulder and smile at her, "I go through this at least once a month. I think I have it down to a science at this point, so if you ever need any tips I think I can point you in the right direction."

Taylor's ears flattened against her head as her space was intruded upon, but only shoved the other more jovial girl off of her instead of remodeling her face. I laughed as the two began to snark at one another, before I heard a cough from behind me. I turned and saw a tall man with slicked back black hair and an impressive moustache, His face seemed to be made of granite with a look that spoke of too many years dealing with hormonal teenagers, and an impeccable suit that showed the lithe figure that was trapped within. My eyes were drawn to the Short Sheath on his hip that looked about a foot and a half long, and then my **[Listening]** brought the near silent sound of glass on glass coming from the inside of his jacket. All in all, the man looked put together and to be a disciplinarian if the glare that he was leveling on our group without much effort on his part.

 **[Colton Gibraltar]**

 **[Level 49 Blade Dancer]**

 **[** _ **Show, Never Tell**_ **]**

Once it was clear that he had all of our attention, and I could feel the uncomfortable energy radiating off of the two girls behind me, he finally spoke, "Miss Chesterton, Have you finished that paperwork I left with you?" The Cultured tones held a weight to them that I hadn't heard since Nan had passed. He was a man that was obviously used to being respected and listened to, or very used to proving why he should be.

Taylor wasn't very easily cowed though and stood to hand over a clipboard I had missed or ignored in my survey of the room, with only a look of minor unease, "Here you go Mr. Gibraltar."

She stood in front of him as he leafed through the forms _tsking_ under his breath after each turned page. His eyes looked up at me, making eye contact with me and a raised eyebrow after I waved a hand at him with a careless grin. "That would make this young man the 'Austin' You mentioned. Correct, Miss Chesterton." Taylor simply nodded, and the man dipped his head once in acknowledgement before he stepped towards me with a hand outstretched in greeting. "I assumed so, but I've tried to stop that bad habit as much as I can afford to. My name is Colton Gibraltar, but you may call me Mr. Gibraltar or Mr. G. I am the Senior Combat Instructor here at this institution, and will be overseeing your entrance exams tomorrow. You and Miss Chesterton are the only new arrivals at the school this year, something for which I am glad. The Staff, Myself included, have been frantic in trying to solve the issue of having fourteen students in the Freshman Hunter Course when the Manual calls for Four man groups. So your inclusion is truly fortunate."

I snorted at the thought that _anything_ I did was fortunate before responding, "So there's Sixteen people total in the Class we're applying for? Isn't that kind of low?"

"To be fair," interrupted Cosma glibly, "Last Year's Class only has twelve, so it's actually a sizable improvement."

While I digested that information The Instructor's eyes narrowed at her, and I could feel the anxiety rolling off of her. He turned swiftly on his heel towards her and leveled a glare on her, "Ah yes, Miss Politan. If I remember correctly I assigned you to serve detention in the Library with Mrs. Moriarty. Why are you here?"

I snickered as the girl floundered for an excuse before I butted in once more, deciding to cover for her in exchange for the Guidance, "I lost Taylor in the Storm and knocked on the nearest door for someone to help me out, and She just happened to be person who answered." I matched his hard stare with my own unaffected one, before he nodded and looked back at her.

"Very Well Miss Politan, I suppose an act of Courtesy counts as a good use of your time during a detention," and then he muttered under his breath about how little he thought of using them as Punishment, "But while I commend you for the act, I must ask you next time to return once the Dalliance is complete," When she nodded he blithely continued in a casual tone loud enough for her to hear, "Or the punishment will be a round on the Stage with me."

She visibly paled before nodding rapidly and moving quickly towards the door when he motioned for her to leave. She stopped at the Door when her hand grabbed the Handle and turned to wave and shout boisterously back at us, "See you tomorrow Newbies!" and signing the A few quick words that I barely understood to mean ' _Up the G'_ before dashing out into the night.

With his stony countenance he shook his head at her antics before gesturing down the hall, where a large ornate set of Double Doors rested at the top of a set of equally decorated stairs, "Up that way is the Headmaster's Hall, though I hope you never have reason to enter the doors. Students rarely visit under cordial circumstances after all," He stated seriously before he led us to the Lobby Door, "But enough talk about punishment. Come, I shall show you to your temporary Dorms for the Night. Tomorrow Everyone is moving into their new dorms for the year so there is no reason to sleep with them in rooms you shall never be in again."

We followed quickly, and were led to a Dorm that looked relatively newer than any of the other buildings, and I saw as we walked in the front door that proclaimed proudly in big bold letters that it was the ' **Staff Dorm'** and by proxy meant that there were no students in the building. Once we had entered I noticed that it was very quiet and that all of the dots on my map were static and unmoving, suggesting that they were probably asleep or getting there. Now that we were out of the elements I took the chance to voice a Question I had had since I had arrived. "Mr. G, about tomorrow… What exactly will we be doing to get accepted here?"

He turned and gave me a brief reassuring smile in response, "I believe you must have misunderstood me or the Goal of this Academy, Mr. Staín. We are not a large academy that has to make the tough choices or decisions quite like a Beacon or Shade, nor do we have the option to seek discretion amongst candidates. Those that apply are accepted and trained until either they quit or they reach their Final year here and take the Huntsman Certification Exam. You and Miss Chesterton have both been accepted already," I blinked at the news, and looked at Taylor who simply shrugged at me, "But tomorrow will be held to showcase what skills you have already honed or need to work upon. That you have made it to the Academy on your own says something about both of you, and the active combat experience you have easily outpaces your opponents, other members of the upcoming Freshman Huntsman Courses who have agreed to fight for extra credit win or lose. This will be held with only the Huntsman Course Students present so that those in higher years may offer help or advice."

"Pretty tight knit group you got around here," Taylor remarked with narrowed eyes, "Must be nice not having to worry about all your students being at each other's throats."

I watched as the Man rounded a corner and sighed, "Unfortunately not, I'm afraid. There have been numerous incidents of aggression between students, but nothing overly dangerous or concerning. Still disheartening to the Staff to hear about it, though," And with that he stopped at the end of a Long Hallway and pointed to doors across from each other marked Visitor's Rooms. He dipped his head to us and explained that we would have to sleep separately, as though that was an _issue_ for us, and Taylor jumped at the chance to sleep in an actual bed alone and without having to set up a watch schedule. I agreed easily as the thought of a warm shower elicited an emotional response from both me and Taylor, specifically the part where no one was required to stand nearby in case shit went down.

I thought I saw a smile as we rushed past the man, but with how composed he had been I thought it may have been my imagination, though I did hear that he would come to wake us at eight in the morning for the exam. I chose instead to focus on the two messages from my tenant that appeared in front of my face as I entered the room.

* * *

 **Quest Completed: Feet were made for walking!**

 _ **Took you long enough.**_

 **You have arrived at your destination, and your perseverance in pursuing your goal across the lands has granted you a tremendous boon.**

 **Rewards; + 2 Free points, and the [Travel Trance] Mechanic.**

* * *

 **Mechanic Unlocked: [Travel Trance]!**

 _ **Traveling a long distance and seeing many locations along the way has opened the possibility of using the Travel Trance to repeat the Feat without having to endure the boredom of a long trek. Move at your walking Speed through the World in a trance state towards a location selected on the Map, awakening only when your life is threatened or you need to Sleep.**_

* * *

 **[You are immune to Fatigue and I can wake you up whenever you need me to. Now that you have arrived at your destination and relative Safety I would like to discuss some things with you.]**

I Eyed the new mechanic, determining that it would be an extremely long time spent traveling at my 'Walking' Speed as determined by my stats, and concluded that it wouldn't be used ever if I had my way.

After a quick yet blissful shower I moved towards the bed and threw myself into the thing, and found it to be one of the softest beds I had ever laid in. No imperfections and not a single issue I could find as I rolled around on it, so I smiled and settled in to sleep.

' _Alright, Fleabag. I'm headin in to talk._ ' And with that I fell into a heavy sleep, the first real sleep since the start of the Trip.

* * *

Instantly I found myself in the same Plain that I had met Fenrir in before, and once again I found the stalks of tall grass bending to the force of wind, with trees further off bouncing under the force. This time I was standing upon entry and I turned to my right to see my doppelganger standing similarly, watching the effects of the breeze upon what I assumed was his world. He turned towards me with a calming smile on his face and he greeted me with a tip of his head in my direction.

"Good to see you once more, Austin," came the same guttural sounds that I myself produced, though when they came from him they seemed to carry further and more articulate than anything I ever said. It seemed odd that I did indeed have a more gentlemanly side in me, and that it was in fact the representation of my inner Grimm.

I smiled at him as I decided I wanted to sit for the conversation, as for all that I couldn't feel my body when I was here, it still made me _feel_ tired watching us stand around a field of grass. Suddenly, instead of landing on grass there was a rock underneath me to support my weight, but I ignored it.

I was in my head talking to a Beowolf in my skin, I think a suspension of reality is warranted.

"Seems more cheery in here than my last visit," I spoke with a smile as I laid my arm across my knee, and indeed it did; The world was beginning to find it's color, with the Sky clearly darkening in Blue hues until it was obvious that it was meant to be a night's sky and the Grass finding golden tones to shade itself in, and the Trees a vibrant red as it faded against the still white trunks which now sported lines that detailed them to my eyes. "It definitely lost the pencil drawn aspect along the way as well."

He chuckled, and nodded once more in acknowledgement as the wind picked up once more before settling down to a constant leafstorm. "Indeed, the downtime in the past months has given me the opportunity to redecorate as it were. I based it on the clearing I used to live in, where you stumbled upon me as a matter of fact. Do you approve?"

"Whatever helps you not go crazy in here, man," answered honestly, as the thought of an out of control Grimm in my head was not a pleasant one. Constantly battling to just make a simple decision was not a fate I wished for.

"Indeed," He agreed without fuss, "I called you in to explain who I am, and what I can help you do. Are you willing to Listen?" I nodded with a smile and he cleared his throat before he began his tale.

"Long ago, in a Kingdom that presided over the same space as what you know as Atlas, was a Greedy king who wished to surpass death. He was known as the Grimmnir, or he most like the Grimm, and claimed to be able to see into the past and future as well as hold a spear that never missed. He ruled over his people in a military based hierarchy, and his people began to turn against him for it. They only agreed to keep him in his position as long as he could win against the Grimm, and he was getting up there in his years. He met with a Witch from a land far away who was said to have access to the knowledge he sought, the key to immortality.

"An incredibly crafty woman, she convinced him that the only way he'd die is by the Hand of a Beowulf that blocked out the moon. Satisfied with his knowledge he returned to his land and reigned over his people for fifty more winters, before he had an idea to ensure his survival; He'd use the Ancient magics to enslave two Beowulf and send them into the sky to follow the sun and moon, and Alert them if they saw any Beowolf large enough to fit the bill the witch had given him.

"These two Beowulf were Packmates of mine, named Halli and Skalli and extremely fast. They did their job for a few moons before I noticed that they had left and sought them out. By this Time I had grown into a more Lupine Form and less of the Man shaped Lesser Beowulfs you have fought. I sought out the Man that had trapped them and fought him. He decided to run from me for half a day to avoid me blocking out the moon, and only at dawn did we fight. The issue was his spear, but I eventually made enough Bone plates to deflect his attacks and land a hit on his aged body. By that time Skalli was overhead as he chased the Moon, and from the Warlord's Position on the Ground I indeed blocked out the Moon before his end. His people became just as afraid of me as they had been of their Ruler, and they gave me the name Fenrir, the one who hunts in the Trees, to call my own."

He gave me a meaningful look before he continued, "The moral of the story being that sometimes in the pursuit of a goal you may in fact end up bringing your own demise. After I had released my packmates I returned to my Clearing and slept for what could have been millenia. I ignored challenges from younglings that surrounded my Glade, and sought no fight out for most of my existence. I believe that you will find that the older a Grimm the less it will be territorial and the more it will become reactionary," He stopped and gauged my reaction, which was nothing short of rapt attention, before relaying his last point, "What I can do for you is basically give you advice and help you navigate the magic that you are embroiled in. If you need information recalled I can provide it, if you need someone to manage an issue I can assist you, and if you wish to accomplish something I can tell you how close in numbers you are to being close to doing it."

"That's a pretty cool story you have there," I responded, "And I thank you for your assistance, even if it is forced by the ritual."

"No reason to bring an early death upon myself without a good cause," he replied easily, "Though I must point out that you are lucky to have entered into a ritual with an Elder Grimm and not some young buck. They would surely have tried to sabotage you at every opportunity, and possibly even lead you to an early death. Beyond that, I'm glad that I am in your head and not someone else's. Your goal aligns too well with every Grimm in existence, and to a further extent my own personal Drive, for it to be a coincidence; Survive and protect at all costs. There is no knowing how much of that was caused by my simply being in your soul and how much is your own drive, but the goal is one I support nonetheless."

My smile was all teeth as memories began to play in my mind, "Seeing as my first memories are those I have are of me running and fighting for my life, I'd like to think that it was a little before your time."

He nodded his head in acknowledgement, "Agreed. I feel that I have to let you know that your choices have more of an impact on yourself than you may know. In fact, that Grimm-like determination to live and ferocity may have shaped you in a more physical sense than anything else. The Magic is one of Self-transformation, and it responds to the Will of the User. If you wish to change at any time I can help you, and you must only will it. Your choices may be permanent in some regards, but there is always a way to change."

With that he wished a restful sleep and I wished him a good rest before returning to the world of the waking.

* * *

My eyes snapped open to the sound of Fist upon Wood as the Door to Taylor's Room was being pounded upon, followed by a Much more Gentlemanly, "Miss Chesterton, I really must insist you wake up." I yawned, and stood to swipe away the notification that I had slept in a bed and recovered. I pulled my clothes back on, knowing that If I were going to be in any type of fight they would have to be mended once again afterwards. I made a mental note, one that was agreed upon by Fenrir, to look into Damage resistance for articles of clothing or a steady supply of sewing materials. The Jacket was quickly turning into a patchwork of different material that made up more than half of the thing. I pulled it on last before slipping my Pistol into the Holster attached to my pants, and then finally rolling the Chain up and around my arm.

As I latched the hook on the end I heard Mr. Gibraltar knock on the door much softer than he did on Taylor's and I grunted in confirmation. I opened the door to the sight of Taylor looking incredibly Floofy, as her hair hadn't quite settled from what I assumed was a rough awakening. She nodded her head towards me with a surly look on her face, and Mr. G only turned and gestured for us to follow him.

We ended up in a Cafeteria where I gorged myself upon a large portion of meat based products and Taylor ate a bagel sandwich before we were corralled from the room. We moved in unison with our chaperone as we made our way to a building through the snowy cocktail of sand while the Sun gave only a pittance of warmth. I saw people greeting mr. G and give us odd looks, with ages ranging from preteen to Near Adults. I garnered quite a bit of attention but ignored it in favor of grumbling curses at the sand that still managed to whip up with stray gusts of wind to hit me in the eye.

After a moment we entered a larger building shaped like a dome made of Rough Sandstone. Through large Double doors we followed him alongside quite a few older students. We stepped out into a room with a large Stage at the bottom of Bleachers hewn from Stone, bleachers that filled up after we moved towards the Stage. I silently ended the Painful process of layering stacks of **[Osteogenesis: Hardening]** over my entire body while suing Second Wind to Heal back to Full health.

I also felt the entirety of the food I had eaten minutes ago disappear as I burned through it as fuel instead of Hp, a nifty mechanic I had figured out on the road.

Mr. G brought us out onto the Stage and stood us behind him before he turned to face the crowd with a Shout of " **Silence!** " in a booming voice that I wouldn't have thought possible of him. After the audience had settled down he began an explanation of what was going on, and the oldest of the audience looked as though they had expected it, though the Younger ones still looked enthralled and excited.

I felt Taylor tap me on the shoulder, and when I turned to her I saw some apprehension on her face mixed with a healthy dose of Determination, "Good luck with your match, Big Guy."

"The same to you, Girlie. Kick some ass for me, I wanna see em squirm when they look at us," I growled as the excitement of the moment began to overtake me and the violent urges that manifested began to become more prominent. She responded with a vicious smirk and a shake of her head.

"Miss Chesterton, Please move to the Red Marker behind you. Mister Staín, please step off the Stage and we may begin," came the voice of Mr. G. With one last smile I hopped off the stage to land outside of the illuminated tiles of the stage. I turned and sat on the ground while Taylor began to stretch.

From across the Gym opened a door and the thin form of a Young Woman exited, one with long blonde hair hanging loose down her back, a questionably form fitting outfit, and a polearm taller than she was. She walked with confidence, possibly the arrogance of someone who underestimated a foe and possibly the confidence of someone who was ready to fight an unknown. Which one was up in the air until the fight began, but a quick once over of the Audience told me she was looked upon as favorable by more than a few people.

When she smiled a narrowed eye smile at Taylor when she finally made it to her starting position on the stage, I could only assume that she wanted to end up black and blue. Taunting someone you don't know is a sign of stupidity and arrogance, but the way she handled her weapon made it obvious she knew what she was doing. I observed the pair's information to try and gauge how the fight would go.

 **[Emily Donlevy]**

 **[Level 18 Lancer]**

 **[** _ **Blade, Wit, and Tongue**_ **]**

 **[Taylor Chesterton]**

 **[Level 17 Fighter]**

 **[** _ **Chroma Saboteur**_ **]**

The Gap in Levels could be crossed with enough of a stat advantage or time spent learning a skill, but I didn't like how the range advantage might play against her. I stopped observing the fighters momentarily to **[Listen]** in on what Mr. G was telling them. "You stop when I tell you to. Winner will be declared by Aura depletion, Surrender, My decision, or Ring Out. These are the only rules in this ring-"

And Like that the fight had started, with Taylor hearing the phrase " _Only Rules_ " and deciding that waiting for the teacher wasn't in the rules. She slammed into her opponent with both of her feet to the stomach as she moved in a yellow blur, sending her tumbling away to a few cries from the audience and a snort from the Teacher. Emily managed to right herself as she rolled and landed in a defensive position the Spear point skimming Taylor's Aura as she thundered in. I was impressed when the Lancer managed to bat her Spear down into the ground as fast as Taylor was moving to use the momentum to throw herself into the air above her opponent. From there she pressed a button on the haft of the spear and it mechashifted into an Assault Rifle which she then used to lay down heavy fire on the Area where she had just been standing. Taylor hopped in short bursts of light through the hail of bullets before launching herself up to meet the falling girl.

The Cestuses slammed against the length of the rifle before boots connected with her stomach and sent her flying away once more. As Taylor floated to the ground She passed by the Aura readings for both of the contendants, with Taylor's still well in the Green while Emily's was already in the Yellow. The issue was that the Girlie had little to no stamina and could only jet around like that for a small amount of time. As she touched down I could even see her huffing and puffing in place before she was off once more.

Spear thrusts were deflected and punches were met with the stock of a gun or the butt of a spear. When Emily finally managed to put distance between the two she would immediately switch to her Ranged option and rain Bullets upon her foe, incentivizing Taylor to keep up the pressure and never giving her a moment's rest. I Winced when Taylor managed to land A solid Hook to the Face and I saw Blood Spill and Aura tank, and I winced again when Taylor Launched herself onto a waiting spear. The only reason that the fight was continuing on so long was that Taylor was simply too fast to catch, too strong to hold, and too smart to repeat a mistake.

A truly Scary fighter, if she wasn't up against someone with ranged advantage in every category and what I was beginning to suspect was an equivalent Mind.

The Battle continued on, and I was impressed with the improvisation of both Girls involved. Taylor would Launch and Emily would be on her Spear like the lookout of an old sailing vessel, and Taylor would slide into it the next time before absolutely nailing her with a Punch as she fell. The next time it would be something different but equally complex in the middle of a fight. The issue I began to see was that Taylor was being outgassed and was no longer thinking through her plays anymore. I sighed as I saw her Scream before hurtling through the Air at her Opponent.

Emily Smiled a tired Smile before throwing herself to the side and sending Taylor uncontested off the side of the Stage. They Both lay there breathing raggedly on the ground as Mr. G Called a Victory for Emily due to Ring Out, while the audience clapped politely and a few more enthusiastic people yelled out in support of someone. I was even surprised to hear someone that sounded suspiciously like Cosma shouting in support of Taylor. I shook my head before I looked up at the Readings Board before it was shut off.

Emily had won at 13% Aura, while Taylor had lost with her Aura sitting pretty at 79%.

Mr. Gibraltar helped each of the fighters to their feet, and thankfully Taylor didn't seem to be holding a grudge about the loss, probably feeling that at the very least she had shown that she wasn't someone to be taken lightly. Mr. G gave her some tips before she walked towards me with a disappointed but satisfied look on her face. She raised her hand and I tapped my knuckles across hers as I passed, before moving towards the Red Mark on the Floor that Mr. G was gesturing towards.

Sounds began to drain out of my senses as I limbered up in the space provided to me, while I saw Mr. G talk to the class once more. He turned towards me and made eye contact and nodded at me while he mouthed the rules once more. I looked towards where my opponent stood as the blood began to pump loudly in my ears, and I began observing what I could about him from his attire and appearance.

He stood Tall and Lithe in his School branded Fighting attire, something That I saw shared colors with what Emily was wearing. Which implied many a distracted young men in future fights to come. He stood steadily, and without any overdone Confidence that had gotten the previous fighter's face knocked in a few more times than I thought she strictly should have. He was leaning away from me, as though he expected me to repeat Taylor's Early Jump, but I declined, as he might have something in store for that. His black hair hung down around his face almost until it touched his jawline, and the Eyes that looked back at me were obsidian black under heavily bagged eyes.

 **[Shebul Al'Araid]**

 **[Level 25 Hunter]**

 **[** _ **Fear Itself**_ **]**

A quick glance at the Crowd told me that he was nowhere near as liked as Emily, and I even saw Cosma openly waving and cheering for me, which was odd but nice.

My eyes snapped back to my opponent as I heard Mr. G bellow, " **Begin!** " For a second nothing happened as he took a defensive guard and I stood there, waiting for him to come to me. The seconds ticked by and my eyebrow raised towards my hairline before I shrugged and moved towards him. I didn't jump, I didn't shamble cautiously, nor did I run; I walked.

I used the time, as he was obviously waiting for me to make my move, to call upon my Aura. My Skin began to Shimmer momentarily before the barrier slowly made its way out of its dwelling place. The Gunmetal Grey energy surrounded my arms and, seeing as it had straight up refused to do anything the last time I asked nicely, **Forced** my Aura to pool around my hands in equal amounts as I had in numerous fights with my Traveling Companion. I stepped towards the man, who had growing look of ' _Oh Shit_ ' on his face, and slammed my open palms together with all of my natural might.

* * *

 _We had been training for nearly an hour when we came to a startling conclusion about my Aura; Much like the person the Soul was attached to it was Stubborn… And extremely_ _ **Violent**_ _._

 _Another Kick was blocked with an aura coated arm and yet another kick was deflected and countered by the Barrier_ _ **Exploding**_ _in response to the Physical Stimulus. I was laughing as the skin on my arm regenerated itself quickly, as the revelation was just my luck. I had gone through such a long a painful journey and fight to be given a reward for my actions. One that_ _ **exploded**_ _everytime I tried to use it._

 _We stopped the Training Early because I was doubled over in pain and laughter halfway through._

* * *

The Two tightly packed bundles of Aura reacted to each other in a way that was entirely outside of the Game's Control. There was no skill involved in the process, nothing to tell me exactly how much damage it was going to do or how damaged I get in the process. Just pure and simple Following the Rules. With My wisdom at 5, there was only a five percent chance that any Aura Technique would work as projected, and the chance was redone every time "Payment" for the technique was deducted. So when I utilized the Only Aura Technique I knew, **[Aura Shielding]** , over a long time it was certain that I'd eventually fail and the shielding part would negate and turn into an exploding cushion of Aura.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Taylor Plugging her ears in preparation.

Because when I Slammed two of the extremely Unstable masses of Aura together it resulted in-

" **BWAAAAAAAAAAAM!** "

-An Almighty explosion that produced damage at a rate of approximately 5 Damage per Aura Point Spent on the Technique of Pure Explosion force centered around and erupting from the place where technique was centered. Namely My hands, which were directing the force into a cone forwards.

Towards my opponent.

Who was not only most likely concussed, but Flying at breakneck speeds towards the edge of the arena.

He slammed into the ground thirty feet from the edge of the Stage, and rolled until his back was to it. He stood up shakily, with blood pouring out of his ears from ruptured ear drums, and looked at me with a look that said he wasn't taking it lying down. My Smile appeared on my face as I looked up at the Aura Board and saw that he hadn't even been brought down a fifth of his Aura by an explosion of approximately 15000 Damage going off ten feet from him. When I looked back at him, My eyes began to vibrate in place with energy that I could feel thrumming throughout my body as his Aura, a Violet Mass that expelled out from him began to cover the Stage.

 **[One minute and thirteen seconds until [Terror] Status Applied]**

I dismissed the message as the Purple-Black gas washed over me and beyond, before I had to duck under a swinging limb that was hurtling towards my face.

It seemed that the battle had barely begun.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Stáin**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 17: 420/1700 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 21639/25618 HP Regen: 117 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1310/1310, Stm Regen: 37 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 1853/4760, Ap Regen: 78 Ap/Sec**

 **Str: (98) 101**

 **Dex: 31**

 **Con: (128) 131**

 **Agi: 8**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 69**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 565.4**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 10196**

 **Pistol Atk: 202**

 **Def: Phys; 70%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha when interacting with those that you have saved before.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent.**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Enduring];** _**I can still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut]; For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

* * *

 _Yo, I just wanted to say thanks for reading my Story, and that I hope you've enjoyed it so far. Feel free to Review and tell me what's wrong, or even just what you think about the story._

 _Jericho Out._


	12. Level 1: Part 3

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _She awoke with the same start that came every morning as her alarm clock erupted into noise, and she immediately regretted setting it as pain claimed her once more. It started in her extremities and worked its way to her core slowly pervading her being as the sickness wormed its way into her bones. She stood and made her way to the bathroom as she stretched and ignored it as she had for the last five years._

 _After she brushed her teeth she checked the time on her Scroll, finding that it was surprisingly early for her to wake up; four in the afternoon. She had been assigned to as the Acting leader of the Midnight shift for the past month and it looked as though it wouldn't be ending anytime soon. She made her way downstairs to start brewing her mandatory pot of coffee and yawned as she did so._

 _When she was done she found an odd sight; Austin sitting peacefully, if not irritably, in the Living room on the sofa with a frown on his face. Titania Staín stopped in her tracks before checking to make sure that she hadn't missed a call from the school, and frowned at her phone in confusion when she saw none. Her eyes flickered back up to the nine year olds face, already with eyes much to old for his age, and the expression that it was stuck in._

 _When he looked up to find her standing there he halfheartedly greeted her and continued stewing in silence. Not one to beat around the bush she blew off the steam billowing from her mug and put voice to question, "What's wrong Whelp, you look like someone in need of guidance." Which was generally true with the young man, who managed to mulishly outcompete retired hunter's in contests of Will and was simply unable to bend in his thoughts once he had come to a conclusion._

 _The issue was always getting the Whelp to Listen, which she would've figured she had down after raising her own son rather successfully._

" _Teach said something that's makin' me mad," came the sullen reply as he slumped into the furniture, "He was talking about some of the animals that aren't around anymore and they don't make any sense, and they weren't even Grimm so there isn't even that excuse."_

 _She quirked an eyebrow at the young man in front of her as she sat down, "You're mad because your Teacher described an extinct animal to you? Which one?"_

 _He sighed before he leveled his Red eyes upon her in a glower, "I can't remember what she called them, but the way she described them made them sound so…" He struggled to find the word as his hands made patterns in front of his head before he slumped again, "Stupid. A Dog with a Birds beak, poisonous legs, and lays eggs? A walking pincushion with a nose like a Goliath's, and four penises? A Horse with antennae that stood forty feet tall with leopard print Skin?!" He threw his hands into the air with a sound of disgust, while she covered a laugh with her coffee mug._

" _So you're angry at the Teacher…?" She asked cautiously once she had gotten her snickers under control._

 _He looked affronted at the question, "Not at the Teacher for telling me about them, but at the the world for making stupid and creepy things. There was even an old photo of one of each from before they were gone, and they made me want to punch them!"_

" _Ah," she sighed with a nod, finally having understanding overtake her, "Creepy indeed. They scared you, Pup." She wished she had been recording his face as the comprehension dawned on his face and his mouth opened in shock while his eyebrows quivered, "You didn't want to see them, you wanted to attack them, and you can't stop thinking about them even though they're freaking you out. Face it, you're scared of them."_

 _A surly snarl crept onto his face before he nodded, "Fine, they scare me. I'm Just glad they aren't still around."_

" _Agreed," She answered easily, "The thought of them freaks me out too. Could you imagine having to differentiate between the good atrocities of nature as well as the Bad?"_

 _They both could only shudder at the thought."_

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

Taylor bumped knuckles with her friend as he passed with a look of peace and calm on his face as he moved towards his starting position, and she silently wished him luck. She was pretty satisfied with her performance in her Fight, although she did wish that she had won she was certain that her prowess was on display. The looks of respect and a tad bit of awe in some cases were what she had been expecting, though the latter less so.

"You're pretty Good, and you gave me a good fight" Came a bright and cheery voice from her side where she knew her opponent was, "But I really feel sorry for your friend over there." The Blond girl was gassed out from the fight and was now wearing a School branded hooded sweatshirt over her rather revealing school uniform. Emily had been nothing other than polite to her after the fight, even if the pre fight banter had been a little maddening.

Taylor openly laughed at her words as they made it to the bleachers to sit down. Immediately after Emily had sat down next to her on her right, her left was occupied by the chipper pink blur that was familiar from yesterday. Moving much more slowly and with care was an unassuming young man with Orange hair wearing thick-rimmed glasses, a button up shirt, and slacks. Cosma was speaking before Taylor could acknowledge her presence, "Nice Fight, and cool moves out there. You move like you're rocket powered, and look like you pack a mean punch!"

Emily smiled wanly at the interlopers, "And Hello to you to, Cosma," she responded archly, "I See that you're already trying to rope the newbies into some scheme. Have you no Shame?"

Cosma made a display of thinking about, only momentarily stopping to swat the young man who sat down beside her on the knee when he answered in the negative, before replying, "I have no idea what you're talking about Princess. The only Scheme I got queued up is in a few days and I don't need any more people to take the fall for me," and almost as an afterthought, "And Shame is in the eye of the beholder. I see an opportunity lost as a shame."

Emily snorted at her words, "Yes, Yes, I'm sure you do."

Taylor interrupted the byplay to bring the topic back around to what she wanted to talk about, "You haven't told me why you feel sorry for Austin yet," she reminded none to subtly.

Cosma and her quiet friend perked up at the sentence, "Why? Who's he fighting?"

"Al'Araid," and the two shook their heads and let out sounds of dismissal.

"Yeah, he's a bit of a tough cookie to crumble. The man has immense Aura Reserves, and a wicked Semblance to match. He creates Aura Constructs of his opponent's darkest Fears and uses them to attack and unnerve them before going for the kill. For some people the effects of the thing even warped what they were seeing, with one Guy thinking he was underwater and drowning. Thankfully, he just passed out."

Taylor thought about how that would affect her, already feeling the nerves start up in her Feet and hands as she thought about teetering on the edge of a cliff or building. Emily could see the thoughts on her face and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it's pretty bad. The only person to unofficially beat him knocked him out before he could activate it, but they were disqualified for tampering with the Arena."

Cosma puffed out her chest and huffed in affront, "Which I still don't understand, Mr. G knows I use explosives. It makes sense that I'd rig his side of the Ring to explode to before hand," She shook her head as Taylor shot her a look of puzzlement, "And it totally worked, too! I beat him fair and square no matter what the Princess over there says."

"Honestly I think he took the win away because you also rigged the Ceiling to blow if the floor hadn't worked," Came the collected tones of the young Man to her far left, "And I still say you went overboard."

"Party-pooper," was her simple response before she stuck her tongue out at him, before she brightened and turned to Taylor with a smile that spoke of her impish nature, "But thats in the Past, and that," she pointed a dainty finger at the far off figure of Austin, "Is in the Now! Gimme the Deets Woman! What can he do, what's his semblance, How strong is his Aura-"

" **Cosma.** " Came the sharp rebuff from Emily followed with a glare, "That's Personal information, you don't just go asking people about that."

Taylor laughed, startling both young women into silence, "Well, he's a bit of a one trick pony, so it's not like I'd be spoiling a big secret," When it was obvious that she took no offence both girls urged her to continue, "The Big lug has only had his aura for a little over three months and has the absolute _worst_ control of it that I've ever seen. He can't even use it for a shield right," She shook her head as she thought of the disastrous Ability he'd displayed, "So he's kinda limited on that front, but that's the only thing that gives me hope for being a better Huntress than he is a Huntsman."

"What's that supposed to Mean? You can't do anything without Aura except shoot a gun, getting close to a Grimm would mean certain death without Aura to Shield you," Emily retorted pedantically.

"Austin Begs to differ," Taylor said with a Shrug before waving a hand to shush them. Mr. G had just called the start of the Fight. After a moment of no movement between the combatants Austin Decided to make the first move.

She quickly slapped her hands onto her upper ears and her forearms along her lower ears in preparation.

* * *

" _The oldest and strongest human emotion is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is that of the_ _Unknown_ _." -H.P. Lovecraft._

* * *

 _End of Interludes_

* * *

The Inky Purple Black cloud grew higher and higher as it began to block out the light of the Arena, but I ignored it in favor of the **Monstrosity** that was bearing down on me. I couldn't tell where limbs stopped and the body began with spiny arms and legs all moving in opposite directions, it was somehow still moving towards me at a surprisingly fast clip, and the thing seemed to be wafting sometime of purple steam off of itself. As it had no nametag floating above its mass I had labeled it "Limbball" and had then decided to smear the absolute travesty of a creature into paste.

Every Single drop of Stamina went into the **[Thundering Blow]** powered Punch that I sent hurtling towards its center mass.

The "Limbball" wasn't even sent careening away like I had hoped would happen, but instead it broke apart into motes of light that floated upwards. I was suddenly alone in a Gloom that had descended and blocked out Stage that I was _Certain_ I was in. My teeth bared as the timer counted down slowly, definitely slower than actual time passed, and I Felt a ragged growl tear itself from my throat.

"Hmmm," Came a voice that seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at all, "Barely a moment's hesitation," The voice was clinical and cold, as though it were watching an experiment unfold before it. The voice sounded young and male, with a timber and scratchiness hinting at adolescence, and it fit entirely to well with the pale face of my opponent. "Maybe this will be more effective."

Once the words left his mouth I rolled to the side, a hairbreadth away from being skewered by the Towering Pole that was suddenly in the space I had occupied. I followed it up to find a Spider the size of a Bullhead standing on Legs longer than it was tall and that were tipped with spear point ends. I grabbed the leg of the Spider as it tried to turn me into a shishkebab and twisted the limb in my hand with a roar. The Purple limb broke off in my hand, And I **[Power Threw]** the limb at such a speed that it created a sonic boom before it dug into its underbelly. The Monster Howled its defiance, but I was upon it before it could protest, slamming into it in much the same fashion as my projectile had before.

Not waiting for my "captor" any longer I unholstered my Pistol, disregarding the feeling of it turning to sludge in my hand as there was no doubt in my mind that I had grabbed my gun. My Dexterity was a single point from being four times my Agility, meaning that any movement could be replicated and the simple act of drawing a gun would be childsplay to reproduce under even the most dire of circumstances.

On my minimap, I saw no outlines of the stage or any Bloodlust from my opponent, but it seemed that his Ability didn't extend to all of my senses, and it was impossible to hide from my Nose. I closed my eyes and ignored whatever he was saying to hone in on the scent of perspiration and lightly baked air, recognizing it as someone who exerting themselves and had recently been on the ass end of an explosion.

I pulled the trigger in what felt like empty air and was unsurprised to find that the air jerked in my hand as though I had shot the pistol. I fired in the direction until the Clip was down to one. My right hand swept up and grabbed whatever monstrosity that had been sent my way before flinging it in the direction of the smell, which had been moving since I had begun firing, with the force of Turbine Engine. Suddenly the Light of the Arena was back, barely breaking through the Purple Fog that had flooded it, and I opened my eyes to see that some amalgamation of animals had landed on him flooring him.

It dispersed and I saw a baleful glare being thrown my way before the light was shut out once more. I laughed openly as I ducked the Charge of a Monstrous Feline Shadow Before Firing my last shot where I had seen him on the floor. My vision flickered as the light broke through for a split second, but it was enough for me to roar in success, " **Run, Run, Little Man. Ya can't Hide forever!** " before Launching myself high in the sky.

I found myself in a swarm of Nevermore, but I laughed and took my time destroying each and every construct he sent at me. It was the most respectful option, after all. The birds went down with ease, Sharp beaks ignored as they rebounded off of rock hard flesh and Talons gripping futilely on my limbs that could pull the entire flock with only a thought. I fell out of the sky into a veritable horde of Grimm, this level of construction most likely hard to do with things that only exist in imagination.

My left arm speared an Ursa in its purple Mask as my right unhooked the chain before my left foot stomped onto the paw of a Creep that was trying to sneak up behind me. I grabbed it by the back of the head and slammed my left hand into and out the back of its head as the Chain unspoiled in a line rapidly swirling metal. With a tug and a pull The chain was flung out to my side so that I could swing overhead in such a way to use the rudimentary tool as a flail against my purple foes.

"How interesting," came the collected voice through the swirling mass of smoke, "You must be rather skilled to have found me through the smoke," the end of his sentence was punctuated by the staccato of gunfire as I unloaded the clip into the mass, noting that with each round discharged at least one Grimm dissipated. "And you aren't reacting to this like anyone else that I've fought. By now a direct scenario would have formed and you'd be breaking. How peculiar."

I swung my weapon through the swaths of enemies with a carefree laugh, ignoring the jaws clamped down on my shoulder and side and jumped into the fray once more. The smoke was beginning to be overpowered by the purple motes of light coming off of defeated enemies. My voice rang out over their howls and roars, a lighter quality riding the scratchy words, "Maybe it's odd, but I ain't doing anything out of ordinary on my end," I ducked under the trunk of a less detailed Goliath imitation that I blamed on lack of experience with the Beast, "So maybe it's an issue on your end of things. Performance issues aren't that uncommon you know," I belted out a laugh as I slammed an Ursa into and through a group of Creeps trying to come up behind me, "It's like one in five or something. Nothing to be ashamed of."

A snort sounded over the area as I turned to avoid running off what my map said was the edge of the Arena, "Charming. No, I can assure you that it is in fact a problem with you, one that will resolve itself eventually." The confidence in the voice had me laughing, as I could very easily see that my health was still over eighty percent and mostly stable, while my Aura had refilled over the few minutes of the fight.

"Sure it will," I called casually as I Walked backwards and popped off headshots while my Stamina recharged, "You can actually see the board, so Imma ask you a question; Which one of us is going to be out of Aura first?"

The silence was telling, as was the amount of wicked barbed projectiles that came sailing for my form. I caught one of the Harpoons and used it to intercept a few of the others. I grunted when three of the Spears pierced my skin, but I ripped them out immediately so my regeneration could get to work. "See, the issue is that they can only monitor the Aura of people and you have come up against the misfortune of fighting someone who doesn't rely on Aura. Therefore as long as I can stand I will be able to fight without the fear of exhausting myself, and I know where I can be and where I can't so I won't walk out for you to make it easy, and I _will not surrender_ ," The word nearly made me nauseous just saying it. Surrender wasn't something I could ever do, no matter the situation.

Seeing as I couldn't smell him anymore, as his scent was being overpowered by my own sweat and blood, I only dumped half of my Stamina into a **[Thundering Blow]** to catch the Beowolf lunging at me in the jaw, sending him tumbling into the group of enemies behind him to turn them into an explosion of purple. "Fourthly, you have to be hemorrhaging Aura making all these Constructs which means I can outlast you on that front," A massive Berengal Fist slammed into my crossed arms but found them to be unyielding in their **[Block]** before an empowered kick caught it in the gut and I ran up its leg while it was winded to plant a knee and bullet into it head.

I landed in a roll that brought me to a kneeling position where I threw a clip of bullets into the middle of a group of enemies and shot it. If they had been made from anything but the extremely volatile Dust that they were, this tactic wouldn't have worked, but as it stood the Clip exploded into a storm of shrapnel and makeshift bullets to clear the area. I gasped as the wind was driven from my lungs as a King Taijitu encircled and constricted upon me.

My hands dug into the fabricated flesh surrounding me and _tore_ it asunder, bisecting it before it too dissolved. The Chain whipped up and through multiple bodies that had been sent to take advantage of my position, but I only laughed as I dived through their puffs of light. I shouted gleefully, as the Fight wasn't overly strenuous, I was still over three quarters of health and ticking back up, before shouting to my opponent once more, "And Finally, and most importantly, **You**. **Don't**. **Scare**. **Me**."

* * *

 **[Terror] Status Applied.**

 _ **Good Luck, Whelp.**_

* * *

"Well, Shite," I croaked out hoarsely.

* * *

Shebul Al'Araid was stumped.

The Fight had opened with an explosive attack that had nearly ended it entirely, and while the fight was for a sizable amount of extra credit it also counted towards your entire school career record, which meant that if he lost he'd no longer have a perfect record. So after that monstrous attack he had gone immediately for his Trump card, the true reason no one had defeated him. He was fairly confident in his close combat skills and his Aura and control were superb, but having people fight their fears come to life would make a barely competent fighter unbeatable.

So when the Area was covered in his Semblance he expected the screams of terror to start up, maybe a paling of the skin if his opponent had a firm grasp of his mind or a few tears, not the immediate violent reaction that it had received. From his position barely outside of the view of his opponent he had seen no fear, no horror, no **Terror** in his eyes that would signify Shebul's Semblance had taken ahold. Monstrosities out of the Books he had read or stories he had heard were swatted away with a casualness that brought a shard of doubt into Shebul's Mind.

The man was having an easier time dealing with his semblance than the Students that had been exposed to it multiple times, and he _wasn't slowing down_.

When he had spoke, his voice hadn't unnerved the man or distracted him, in fact in seemed to bolster him for he immediately sought him out and attacked, breaking the concentration necessary to hold the Semblance in place on such a large area which was only necessary because it wasn't affecting him on an individual level. His opponent's Taunts were ones that Shebul had heard before, but never with the conviction that he heard in his voice. After the hit he had spent more attention calming himself and observing his opponent than on trying to creep him out.

Waves upon waves of Grimm were sent at him, and they were rebuked at a speed that made some of his classmates look slow. Punches and Kicks that seemed to rend the Air in front of them before sending his constructs away with even glancing blows. Weapons that Shebul knew his semblance would be trying its damndest to make him believe had disappeared were brandished without a thought to decimate Packs of Grimm.

And all the while, the man was **Smiling**.

Shebul was beginning to become worried before he was directed to the Aura reading Board and found that the man who currently had a creep and a nevermore clamped onto his body was still at _Full Aura_. He had whirled around to find him still fighting, talking when he wasn't moving as violently to explain exactly why he was assured in his victory.

The worst part was that Shebul agreed with the man.

Obviously he had to change his plans, as his Semblance wasn't quite cutting it this time. The stray thought brought him crashing to a halt, as the idea of it never working on a Human or animal was laughable. Every single one had a fear to exploit and his semblance had worked on them all, the only thing that it hadn't worked on was-

His mind seized as he looked back into the globe of darkness to find him swirling in a mass of Grimm. To his mind's eye the Grimm had their colouring and his eyes widened when he saw that the man staring them down had the same red eyes gleaming out from the dark and moved with the same unbridled energy and fury as they did.

His breathing Caught in his throat and the switched began to flip as dots were connected but brought no clarity, ' _He's like them?! But how? It's not possible, but there it is-_ '

His fevered thoughts were interrupted by the craggy scratchy voice that sounded like he had gargled iron filings, " **You**. **Don't**. **Scare**. **Me**." The words came from only a few feet in front of him, but he found no ability in him to move away from him. The red eyes were now staring at him through where he thought the smoke that marked the edge of his influence had been. From there he stepped out with a step that shattered the tile underneath it. The ichor of Grimm oozed from his wounds, but the Wide smile that adorned his face was entirely unconcerned. The Man towered over Shebul, who stood shaking in his shoes, before a single fist was reared back.

Shebul barely got his arms up in front of him before it came crashing down into his Aura. The air left his lungs and the force of the blow reverberated through his bones as he slid backwards fifty feet. He dropped his guard and grabbed his knees to heave a few gasps before regaining his breath, but found himself unable to as the **Monster** was upon him immediately.

Fists and boots filled his vision and he could barely find it in himself to dodge or block. Any distance he got was overtaken with a Lunge or a Flying Knee, any quickly his Aura was dropping into the Yellow. His pride flared at the thought, as never had he entered the Yellow in his entire school career, but the sight of Red eyes through his guard reminded him that this was no longer a school yard brawl or spar, this was life or death.

And the eyes that bared down on him showed no mercy.

* * *

It felt like my eyes were melting from their sockets from the horrible sights and sounds I was being subjected to. It seemed that no matter where I looked the same loop of images played, along with the infernal voice playing over top like some grotesque narrator. I was shrinking in on myself just being near it, but no matter where I looked or stumbled it followed at the same distance away never approaching or retreating from my eyes. I tried to close my eyes but **[Instinct]** Made sure I heard the words in detail no matter what I did, though my nose made sure I knew that it was indeed fake and not real.

It did little to stop the revulsion climbing in my throat.

As I began to turn green in the Gills I heard a different voice cut through the noise of the world, a high pitched screech of words that I recognized as Taylor.

" **His Biggest fear is** _ **Childbirth**_ **!?"**

The distraction, while welcome and necessary, alerted me to the fact that this scene was apparently visible to the audience. It had all started when I had made the mistake of asking Nan, who was narrating this Terrifying sight, how babies came to be at the ripe age of six years old.

Most people, those who were not as blunt or oblivious ( **Malicious** ) as Nan had been, would have told some lie or version of the truth that wouldn't have traumatized a six year old. Nan was not one of those people and therefore subjected me to an eight hour long lesson on the Anatomical differences between men and women and the exact process by which they were created and brought into being. To say that I had had a trouble sleeping that night was an understatement, and the same could be said for the rest of that week.

But the fact that Taylor was incredulous that this was what was brought into being by the **[Terror]** Status meant that it was probably ridiculous, but it was my Trauma so I'd thank her if she kindly fucked off. Still, it was a construct and not real.

Which meant that I used my nose to guide me instead of my eyes and made enough noise to drown out Nan's voice, I'd be fine.

' _Simple enough_ ,' I thought mirthlessly.

So I focused on the distant sounds that had been brought to my attention by Taylor's Voice, the Heartbeats of the Audience, the crackling of old lightbulbs, and the hints of wind whipping by the building outside replaced the dreaded words and my nose ignored the scent of my dried blood to find the other scent coating the Arena; The scent of another's blood.

My eyes didn't open through sheer force of will, but I found myself suddenly on edge. I knew that I hadn't drawn blood on him, and that meant that something was **Wrong**.

' _Oi!_ ' I called inwards, knowing that my tenant was watching and listening like always, ' _You got anything I can use to get out of this fucking Nightmare!_ '

The notification appeared in the darkness behind my eyelids without noise, and I growled at his opening insult.

* * *

 **[I'd hardly call a middle school health class a Nightmare, but I found something for you. The only thing That I got that even looks close to what you need is called [Purge], and you need 65 Res to Access it. The only description I have is "** _ **Purge the Mind, Body, and Soul-" I wish you luck.]**_

* * *

The information wasn't very informative, but I was certain that I could figure it out. The scent of blood was getting stronger, and my opponent's wellbeing was riding on it, which meant that I needed to do this quickly.

' _It's based on Resilience, which implies Aura Based, and it's called_ _ **Purge**_ _,_ ' I thought, starting with the basics and trying to work my way up from there. I called up the Steel Grey Force that resided in me, and focused on what I wanted; a clean soul. The force wasn't immense or all consuming, and in fact wasn't all that hard to get a grasp on even if moving it was hard. I immediately found a spot of Foreign Aura lodged in it, a purple mass that looked like it was spreading outwards.

Now came the hard part; dislodging the bad boy.

I focused and drew a large chunk of my Aura to coat my hand and grabbed at the purple mass. The first attempt resulted in an explosion, as did the second through eleventh. On the twelfth I finally Managed to grab the thing without my Wisdom screwing up the process and _pulled_ until it seperated with a fizzle and a squelch to my honed ears. A chill crept up my spine as the **[Terror]** Status, and I sizable chunk of my Aura, disappeared.

I opened my eyes to the sight of the sphere I had been in before the **Terror of Terrors** and a singular notification followed by a message from Fenrir.

* * *

 **Requirements Met; Str 101/75 and Res 69/50.**

 **Skill Learned; Soul Tear, Level 2!**

 _ **With the force of my hands I shall tear the bonds of the Soul and decide my own fate.**_

 **Apply the force of the Soul onto your hands to perform an Aura surgery.**

 **Techniques;**

 **-?**

 **-?**

 **-Status Removal; Expend 19% of your Aura to remove 1 Aura based Status.**

 **-?**

* * *

 **[I feel as though I shouldn't be surprised, but I still am. Nice going Genius.]**

* * *

I growled at the Message before closing it and sniffing the air. Finding the Smell of blood once more I launched myself towards it, and found an odd sight; My opponent being thrashed by one of his own constructs.

* * *

The monster stood above him, no longer looking human by any stretch of the means as a mask of bone was growing in front of his eyes, claws as long as Machetes were protruding from his hands and feet, and the bones of his legs resembling the hind legs of a dog or wolf. The thing's teeth had elongated and were dripping in some toxic substance. His clothes were in tatters and rapidly shedding as his form grew in size.

His Hands stretched towards the ceiling as he readied to finish the job, as Shebul's Aura was already deep in the red. He stared up at the monstrosity, waiting for the end that would inevitably come at its hands. It had thrashed him up and down the Stage that Shebul had so arrogantly thought his. His eyes closed as the fists descended for his head.

A resounding boom had Shebul snapping them open, only to see a dust cloud billowing out from behind the monster as two thick arms looped around its torso before lifting it up and backwards. The second slam blew away the dust to see that the monstrosity was being suplexed by… His opponent?

Dry throat and dehydrated as the beating had made him the words he tried to say were broken at best, "W-what in the.. F-fuck?" A leg swung up and launched the beast away, and for a second Shebul thought he saw it flash purple. Then the focus of his fear was landing at his side in a defensive guard.

"I'd really appreciate it if you took down this Semblance of yours, Boyo," Came the gravelly voice as a piercing Howl broke the relative silence. It was only now that Shebul noticed that he was indeed in his own semblance, as the Black Smoky bubble was the only thing in sight. With an extreme force of Will he began to reign his powers back in, but it was slow going and the Monster was still hurtling towards him at high speed. Wide eyes could only watch from his position on the ground as the Beast jumped high into the air, only to be met with the fist of a young man to the face.

His chain snaked out and around the launched Beast's Ankles before it was swung like a flail end over end as they descended in speedy and shaky arcs. A roar exploded from within the young man when he landed as he pulled down _hard_ and slammed the Creature into the Ground with a reverberating _Crash_.

His Aura was suddenly more cooperative as the thing dissolved under the force of the blow, and he managed to wrangle his Semblance under control once more.

* * *

I stood there, looking at the ceiling as I panted trying not to throw up from the dizziness of that last Gamble I had pulled. The only reason it had worked at all was because I had practised throwing and catching rocks with the chain for so long, which was absurdly _not_ a Skill under the Game System.

I begged to differ. It was probably the single most skilled thing I had ever accomplished.

I watched with a tired smile on my face as the Smoke dissipated and was replaced with the Arena from before, and the deafening Silence from the Audience.

" **Winner, Austin Staín!** " came the booming baritone of Mr. G once more, finally bringing me out of " _Fight Mode_ ". I turned to my opponent and nodded my head, who for the most part just lay there in a crater resting from his Semblance running amok. I walked over and knelt down by his side as his tired eyes never left the Ceiling.

Finally he managed to croak out some words to me, "S-sorry about that. It seems that my Semblance got a tad bit carried away." The words felt much more genuine than the clinical ones I had heard in his sphere.

I barked a laugh in agreement, "I'd certainly agree. Next time let's just fight like normal people, no semblances? I'd rather not hear my Grandma give me _the Talk_ ever again, thank you very much."

His eyes drifted down to mine and I saw confusion appear there, "My semblance worked on you?" When I nodded any rigidity left his body as he slumped in relief, "That is a relief. I believe I overreacted a bit in there and my Semblance responded accordingly."

I raised an eyebrow at him before standing and offering him a hand, which he accepted wordlessly, "So you beat the shit out of yourself? What a touchy Power ya got there."

A tired smile crossed his lips, "You have no idea. One wrong thought and suddenly I'm looking down the Barrel of it. What a crappy hand I got dealt, man."

I turned and walked back towards the Bleachers where Mr. G was giving them a run down of what he expected from us in his Combat Classes this next year, Basically follow the rules and improve, before throwing my last comment over my shoulder, "At least you got one man. You could be a pleb like me and have to fight for everything bit of power you have."

I heard Him fall into the first seat of the bleachers as I walked towards Taylor, who was nested in the middle of a group of people looking extremely satisfied with something. I nodded to Cosma, who was simply staring at me mutely with a numb look on her face, before turning to Taylor, "Why do you look so happy, Girlie? It's givin' me the creeps."

I then noticed that the girl on her right was looking at me with a look that mirrored Cosma's, and with a bit more inspection quite a bit more of the Audience. I reached down an scooted both Cosma and the man next to her over enough so that I could sit down before leaning in to Taylor to whisper out the side of my mouth, "What did I miss?"

Taylor Snorted and it seemed to break the spell. The rest of the group of people blinked out of there shock while the ones further off returned their attentions to Mr. G at the bottom of the Bleachers. "Nothing Much," She said in between Laughs. I felt as though I was missing something, but I ignored it to listen to Mr. G finish his speech and dismiss the congregation.

"Mr. Staín and Miss Chesterton, please stay behind for a moment. You too Miss Donlevy, I have a job for you as well," Mr. G called up to us as the rest of the students stood and grumbled amongst themselves. We stood and made our way down, with Cosma flitting around me like some annoying pink Hummingbird and the young man I hadn't met yet following much more calmly. Mr. G nodded and then spoke to us about our performances, "Miss Chesterton, I must commend your ability to think on the fly. The amount of improvisation was unique in some of the fights I've seen here, and I can see only a tiny bit of an actual fighting style in the way you move and fight which makes you hard to predict and counter accordingly. The only Issue I saw was Stamina and keeping your temper, though both of those may be attributed to who you were fighting as she has been known to irritate even the most even keeled of our fighters at one point or another."

"Thank you Mr. G, I'll do better next time," Taylor responded with a brief nod of the head in respect, and I chuckled a bit at her words. There was no room for _trying_ in her mind, only _doing_.

Mr. G smiled for the briefest of moments before nodding his head in return, "I certainly hope you do," then his eyes met mine and the smile turned to an expression of exasperation, "As for you Mr. Staín, Where do I even begin?"

"The fact that I won, and my opponent did not," I responded easily, barely registering the intake of breath behind me. I instead focused on the challenging eyebrow on the man's face and smiled to show that no offence was meant by intrusion.

"Yes, as you point out you did in fact win. And I was only barely convinced to let the fight go after I was given the report from Burgess to let you face off against Mr. Al'Araid. It seems that you performed admirably, beyond expectations in fact. The only issue I had was the complete refusal to use your Aura in Melee."

"My Aura is touchy and likes to explode when it is touched, so if I'm in the air and I have it going and then get touched, it throws me quite a bit off course. So I find it a bit easier to fight without it," I informed him with a shrug, to which he cupped his forehead in a hand.

"Then I suggest you work to make your Aura more pliable. It truly is a useful tool when applied properly and you'd do well to not forget it," He said while he gave me a reproachful look.

I nodded in agreement, "It is, but everyone else seems to forget that your body is equally if not more useful in most dangerous situations."

After a moment's consideration, he nodded amicably in confirmation, "Then I'll continue with my curriculum of sound mind, body, and soul. But before that, the First years are moving in to their Dorms for the rest of their Time in the Huntsman Program and Miss Donlevy here is going to escort you to the dorms. There you will meet those that will be in your Team for the next three years and most likely the few after that. Now, here's your paperwork and one last thing from me," he stuck out a hand towards me, his eyes with an odd expression in them, and once I had grabbed it and shaken did he finish his thought, "Congratulations! You passed."

He did the same to Taylor, and the three other students tittered a little at what was obviously an inside joke before he turned swiftly and made his way towards the exit. I smiled at the Notification that echoed his sentiments.

* * *

 **Quest Completed: Making an Entrance!**

" _ **It's all about first impressions, Whelp."**_

 **Pass the Academy's Entrance exam!**

 **Rewards:**

 **Increased reputation with [Taylor Chesterton], Access to the Academy Grounds, and 1000 exp.**

* * *

"Shall we get a move on?" Emily asked as she moved to follow, and I fell in behind her, content to follow for now.

* * *

After an hour of me and Taylor getting roped into helping Emily move the absolutely _absurd_ amount of clothes that were in her old Dorm while Cosma and her Friend escaped unscathed we were finally in the First Year's Dorm, a three story building that the Academy had graciously provided the three teams as a Floor to a Team, with the First Floor being the Largest and therefore holding two teams. The Architecture of the building was nothing special, though it had similar amenities as the Teacher's Dorm.

All three of us had been assigned to the First Floor, with Taylor and Emily in Room 108 and me in Room 101 with the two dorms being the Closest to the entrance and Stairwell of the Building. The numbered doors went up and down the hall at spaces of about twenty feet with four on each side and a rather large common area furnished with couches and chairs. The entire Floor was White with grey accents, Marble floors that looked as though they had been polished that morning by the sheen that they reflected.

"Austin!" came a cry that startled me from my musings, and I turned to find Taylor under a mountain of clothes with only one furry ear poking out, "Help me you bastard!" she hissed venomously. I grabbed the stack from her before walking into their room and dumping the mountain of linen onto her bed, despite her protests.

"There ya go," I mischievously explained when she shot me a scathing look, "You're all moved in!" I laughed when she squawked and began herding me out of the room, most likely to begin claiming as much of the storage and floor space as her own, and Taylor took the opportunity to slide past her and flop into the only one of four beds not covered in clothes. I left shaking my head, closing the door to their room and combat for the room that I was sure would devolve into blows soon.

I calmly opened the package labeled with my name and room number by untying the string and pulled out the sheets of paper, only to have a note of line paper fall out from in between the pages. I bent down to pick it up, and brought it up so I could read it.

* * *

 _Austin Staín,_

 _Please come to my Office at eight o'clock tonight, I have something that I must discuss with you. In the meantime, take the time to congregate and get to know your team._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Headmaster/Headmistress/your new Superior Being Newman._

* * *

I blinked at the way they had signed the note before I opened the door to the room I had been assigned and saw two familiar faces. Cosma and her friend, a rather pleasant looking if unassuming young man whose only stand out feature was his burnt orange hair.

 **[Roman Torchwick]**

 **[Level 22 Eternal Novice]**

 **[Long Fuse, Bright Results]**

I squinted my eyes at his class, as I distinctly remember that the Novice Classes had been reserved for waiting a long time before Choosing a Class. He must not be a very decisive person or something along those lines. He saw me first, and he gave me a wave with a smile from his seated position on a bed that had been moved to the back left corner, the furthest from the door. His wave alerted his partner in crime to my presence, who rounded on me with a big smile on her face. She was nearly bouncing in place when she asked me, "Are you in this room too?!" I nodded mutely, and she squealed before she began bouncing off the walls in exuberance that made my head hurt just thinking about it.

"Don't worry about her," came the reserved voice of Roman, who was drawing or writing in a Notepad, "After a day or two she'll be calm, and then another two she'll be bored of you." He winked in my direction while Cosma whirled on him with an affronted look, but I ignored it to observe the setup of the room, with a Bed pushed into the corners of the room with only the ends of the beds barely touching and desks in a line along the back wall. My eyes narrowed when I saw that three out of four beds looked to be occupied.

"Do you guys know who's the fourth wheel in this team?" I asked, yawning as I moved towards the undisturbed bed, the one that was literally right next to the door and if the Pink was any indication was sharing a side with Cosma.

I flopped into it as Cosma stopped berating the poor young man for being a party pooper, "Uh, Right, you haven't met everyone yet have you?" When I shook my head she continued, "Well, she's a bit shy so I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't met her. She wasn't at your "Entrance Exam" either, so you probably haven't had the chance to see her around. But don't worry, she was in here a moment ago and she'll probably be right-"

The sound of the door opening drew my attention to the door as a new person entered the room. She had pale skin contrasted with a small amount of dark makeup, dark hair pulled back in a loose ponytail that bobbed back and forth as she moved, and Amber-Yellow eyes, and stood an inch shorter than Taylor did while looking just as lithe if not as muscular. She wore pretty standard clothes, with collared shirt under a brown sweater or cardigan as well as a modest length Skirt and leggings. She was looking at the Scroll in her hand while addressing the Room, "Sorry about that, it was just my Mom, you know how she gets sometimes," She pushed the dark-rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose from where they were falling down.

But all the physical stuff was ignored for the Words that floated above her head.

 **[Ashley Charbon]**

 **[Level 27 Fire Elementalist]**

 **[Ashen Princess]**

And when my eyes met hers I could tell that the situation was now a hundred times more complicated.

So I did what I always did when I saw someone I recognized out and about; Smiled and Waved.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Stáin**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 17: 1420/1700 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 25618 HP Regen: 117 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1310, Stm Regen: 37 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 4760, Ap Regen: 78 Ap/Sec**

 **Str: (98) 101**

 **Dex: 31**

 **Con: (128) 131**

 **Agi: 8**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 69**

 **Free Points; 2.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 565.4**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 10196**

 **Pistol Atk: 202**

 **Def: Phys; 70%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha when interacting with those that you have saved before.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent.**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Enduring];** _**I can still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut]; For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **Class Bonuses:**

 **+2 Con, +2 Res, +1 Str, and +1 Dex Per Level.**

 **+50% Movement Speed towards Injured Friendlies.**

 **-2 Cha and -2 Int per Level.**

 **-100% Renown points gained, Reset to Zero, Replaces Renown Title With [Helper].**

 **-25% Monetary and Loot Rewards from Quests.**

 **Skills:**

 _ **Combat:**_

 **-Brawling! Level 38, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **I fight like I eat; Aggressively.**_

 **A sloppy Hand to Hand style focused on raw physicality over finesse.**

 **Skill gives access to all Techniques used and observed by the Skill.**

 **+190% to all damage done with this Skill.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second**

 **-Chain Mastery. Level 21, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **The Weapon of Goons world-wide, learn to be the ultimate goon.**_

 **+105% Atk while a Chain is equipped.**

 **-Pistol Mastery, Level 6, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **The gun of Protagonists and Trash Enemies worldwide, I wonder which one you are?**_

 **+30% Atk With a pistol.**

 **+60% Critical Damage with a Pistol.**

 **+15% Accuracy with Pistols.**

 **+1 (Lvl/5) Extra Rounds per reload.**

 **-Explosives Mastery, Level 11, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **I actually wanted to be a Florist, ya know.**_

 **+55% Atk when using explosives.**

 **+55% time when disabling an explosive.**

 **-Thundering Blow (Tier 2), Level 8, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **The World shall know the Strength of Storms in my Wake.**_

 **For every point of Stm spent, increase the physical damage of one Attack or Skill by 1.5%.**

 **Skill Branched;**

 **-Power Throw; Level 3.**

 _ **Kobe for accuracy, Yeet for Power. YEET!**_

 **Thrown projectiles now have 60% of the Power Attack benefit.**

 **-Rend; Level 6.**

 _ **Rip and Tear**_

 **Bonus Damage to Inanimate Materials; do 120% more with Thundering Blows.**

 **-Blocking. Level Max, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **"Did you tell her about your Herpes?"**_

 **The Art of Blocking an attempt.**

 **(Active) Costs (Dmg-Con) Stm/Block.**

 **Blocks 95% of damage on a successful Block.**

 **-Skill learned: Grapple, Level 3, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **You're mine now, I've literally got you by the Balls!**_

 **Deal 85% less damage than a normal attack, but inflict [Grappled] Status upon foe.**

 **-Skill Learned: Adrenaline Rush, Level 6, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **Feel the Burn!**_

 **Burn Hp to restore Stm, ratio of 11 Hp:1 Stm.**

 **Using over 81% of Health for this skill grants the Status [Strain].**

 **-Skill Learned; Second Wind, Level 3, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **Put me back in Coach!**_

 **Burn Stm to restore Hp, ratio of 1:3.**

 **-Osteogenesis, Level 10, [Grimm] Skill;**

 **Cost to use, .90% of Health and Stamina per 1% of Bone Structure affected.**

 **Known Effects;**

 **-Regen; Replace lost Bone with your own vitality, decreasing Limb regen Effect Durations by 99%.**

 **-Hardening; Temporarily Increase the Amount of Damage Limbs can Take by 50%. Lasts until next Rest.**

 **-[?]**

 **-Panic!, Level 2, [Human] Skill;**

" _ **Well, you aren't the ugliest thing I've ever seen. I've also seen your mother.**_ "

 **Depending on relative level and threat level, as well as active Cha modifiers, targeted individuals will become aggressive towards you. Inflicts the [Taunted] Status.**

 **2% More Damage taken from and dealt to those with the [Taunted] Status.**

 _ **-**_ **Soul Tear, Level 2!**

 _ **With the force of my hands I shall tear the bonds of the Soul and decide my own fate.**_

 **Apply the force of the Soul onto your hands to perform an Aura surgery.**

 **Techniques;**

 **-?**

 **-?**

 **-Status Removal; Expend 19% of your Aura to remove 1 Aura based Status.**

 **-?**

 _ **Movement:**_

 **-Running! Level 17, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **Run Bitch Run, Dey gonna get you!**_

 **Move at 320% of your base movement speed.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/sec.**

 **Maximum running Speed: 7.36 mph**

 **-Skill Learned: Power Jump! Level 15, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **If**_ **that** _**bird shat on your car it'd dent the Hood.**_

 **Through pure physicality Soar through the Air.**

 **Costs 36 Stm to jump your Str in Feet, Current base Distance 56 feet.**

 **Costs 77 Stm to Jump twice your Str in Feet.**

 **Costs 118 Stm to Jump Thrice your Str in Feet.**

 **Stm = N*36 + (N-1)*5, where N is the Coefficient of your strength, to reach N*Str Feet. -Skill Branched: Lunge, Level 9.**

 _ **Easy, Tiger.**_

 **Deal 190% of Attack after travelling a distance equal to your [Power Jump].**

 **-Skill Branched; Smackdown, Level 3.**

 **When landing deal Damage for the distance traveled; for every foot deal 6 Damage, in an area of Distance/97.**

 _ **Detection:**_

 **-Skill Learned: Detect Bloodlust, Level 17, [Human] Skill.**

 _ **Is it just me or does it feel a little Deadly in here?**_

 **Detection Range: 51 feet.**

 **-Skill Branched: Project Bloodlust, Level 10, [Grimm] Skill.**

 **(Res*2-EnemyRes)% Chance to Inflict [Stun] Status.**

 **Target must have at least (20-.5*Lvl) 15 Wisdom to be affected.**

 **Costs 20 Stm/sec.**

 **+Skill Learned: Instinct, Level 17 (Tier 2), [Grimm/Faunus] Skill.**

 _ **My eyes are one of five senses I can use, so why rely on just one?**_

 **(Passive) Detection: 80% chance of detecting (increase to Passive 30%) [Stealthed] Units.**

 **(Active) Detection*(1+.5*Level) = *9.5, move at ½ Movement Speed while Active. If still, double the effect.**

 **Base Range = 150 feet.**

 **Senses: Hearing, Smell/Taste.**

 _ **Passives:**_

 **-Skill Learned: Physical Conditioning, Level 4, [Human] Skill.**

 _ **Got Gains, Bro.**_

 **Increase Str and Con by Lvl %.**

 **Current Increase = + 4%**

 **-Skill Tree: Veteran Intuition, [Human] Skill:**

 **.5% increase in damage dealt and .25% decrease in damage received from this Enemy type.**

 **-Enemies Encountered;**

 **-Hooligans Level 21: 10.5% increase , 5.25% decrease.**

 **-Organized Criminals Level 14: 7% increase, 3.5% decrease.**

 **-Pack-Type Grimm Level 5: 2.5% increase, 1.25% decrease.**

 **-Roamer-Type Grimm Level 4: 2% increase, 1% decrease.**

 **-Trapper-Type Grimm Level 4: 2% increase, 1% decrease.**

 **-Flier-typer Grimm Level 4: 2% increase, 1% decrease.**

 **-Skill Learned: Intimidation; Level 7.**

 _ **You don't want to see me angry.**_

 **For every 5% of health the target is missing, 7% more likely to answer a question honestly.**

 **-Iron Skin: Level 4, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **I heard that a master of this skill is so thick skinned that he could tank a million insults without crying.**_

 **Any Attacks that deal damage under the This Skill's Level times five are ignored for purposes of damage.**

 **Threshold = 20 Dmg.**

 **-Exposure: Level 3,;**

 _ **When the world decides to piss all over your plans, bring an umbrella.**_

 **Through repeated exposure to the more extreme elements of nature, you have gained the ability to ignore its effects on you.**

 **[Environmental] Effects are 3% less effective on you!**

 **-Splash, Level 6, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **Splish, Splash, I was takin' a bath.**_

 **Physical Attacks now have an increased area of effect.**

 **Area of impact increased by a 1.3 Modifier.**

 **-Skill Learned: Mitigation, Level 24, [Grimm] Skill.**

 _ **Pain is as temporary as it is annoying.**_

 **Take 48% less physical Damage.**

 _ **Tedium (No notification):**_

 **-Skills Learned: First Aid, Level 5, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **That doesn't look quite right, the arm bone connects to the Shoulder bone, right?**_

 **Heal yourself or another when not in enemy line of sight or sustaining damage.**

 **Heal 25 Hp/Sec, requires appropriate medical supplies and 4 Stm/Sec.**

 **-Sewing, Level 7, [Human] Skill:**

 _ **Should have listened to Nan.**_

 **Restore Cloth Item Durability 6% per Level, requires Needle and Thread**

 **-Computer Science. Level 18, [Human] Skill;**

 **+36% words per minute typed.**

 **Words per minute =(1+.02(Lvls of Computer Science)(80+(Int*3)) = 112.8 Words per minute.**

* * *

 _Alright, time for some brief explanations for some of the less spelled out of things in the fight; Specifically in regards to Shebul thinking Austin is a Grimm (No matter that he is right). His semblance demands an iron will, and even the slightest doubt as to the Humanity of his foe was enough to set his semblance on him as well, and this has happened to him before so he's not likely to continue to think the dangerous thought especially after Austin and others would vouch that it was affecting him._

 _The Time skip was roughly ten years, which is why there was such a specific time increase at the end of the Prologue Finale, it wasn't randomly chosen unlike the amount of tries it took Austin to get Soul Tear down right. There was always the unlikely option of him getting it on the first try or not getting it until the fiftieth at which point he would've won simply because Shebul would have exhausted his Aura._

 _Another thing, Shebul's Semblance wasn't actually putting him in mortal danger outside of a bloody nose or cut arm because of the innate drive to survive in every individual is stronger than most fear. In fact it is the driving force behind why Austin was largely unaffected by the Semblance; he's survived too much to be scared of normal stuff._

 _Another thing is that the H.P. Lovecraft quote is in reference to horror caused by asking and receiving information that you are not ready for, Austin with Nan's Talk, and That which is outside of what you consider possible, Shebul with a human that is without fear or immune to his Semblance. I felt that it would be appropriate to include the quote that inspired the direction of the fight._

 _Alright,_

 _Jericho Out._


	13. Level 1: Part 4

_Interlude A_

* * *

Sullen eyes looked out the window, the owner trying her best to ignore the sounds of playing and other children erupting from around her. She was eight years old, and she was sitting and waiting for her books that she had requested in the Orphanage where she had spent the last year waiting and reading. The Matron said that every orphan found a family eventually, but it seemed that hers was a bit late.

She was the last orphan from the Fall of Mount Glenn, and it seemed that her attitude scared off would be parents.

She had been asked to tone it down, but Ashley knew that if she acted bad, mean, nasty, or any of those other words the other orphans used to describe her then they were more likely to be adopted instead, and that only those that would be willing to deal with her would remain.

A win-win situation in her mind, as she was so fond of saying. Where she had learned the phrase was beyond the caretakers, as was her thought process. Orphans were supposed to crave human interaction or the possibility of a happy family, but Ashley actively sought isolation and distanced herself from anyone who looked even a tad bit interested.

It was troubling to say the least.

"Ashley," The girl was roused by a gentle voice from the doorway. The other kids saw her from down the Hall where they were playing and waved, but made no move to swarm around her legs like they did prospective parents. She had been here many times before, and had made it plain that she had no plans of adopting any of the orphans. In her arms were the books that the young girl had asked for, a multitude of journals and thick tomes dedicated to Huntsmen and Huntresses spanning Remnant. She reached out for them but they were pulled from her reach just before she could grab them.

Her eyes followed them up past the Body and then face of her courier, who arched an eyebrow imperiously at her. Ashley sighed but caved, knowing that it would do her no good to push the issue and did as she was expected. "Good Morning Miss Greenburg. May I please have my Books?" The young orphan did her best to smile, but if she were being honest smiles being forced were rather obvious. And the way that she held out her hands towards the things with twitching fingers probably didn't help.

Miss Greenburg snorted in response to the display before bringing the Books down and letting them land on the Bed, the Former Librarian no longer as invested in preserving the integrity of Books that 4th and 5th edition. As Ashley grabbed the first journal that she could and began to read, despite Janette's continued presence, a Hand moved up to swipe a stray lock of Blonde hair behind her ear. She shook her head before she walked around the eight year old's room, tidying up the rather well kept Room while the only sound that erupted from the young lady was hums and grunts as she read.

"Ashley," Janette began, pausing as she mulled over words in her head. The young girl stopped reading to look over in her direction silently, "Earlier this morning I received a invitation for a rather nice job, one that I have been in desperate need of," Janette felt that the girl's yellow eyes pulled information from those they bored into, as well as the look of apathy being confused for a look of confusion or not understanding that prompted people to explain further without words, "And I wanted to let you know that I'm going to take the offer."

Ashley stayed quiet for a moment before her eyebrows drew together, "You're Leaving Vale?" came the quiet voice from the small child. Her orbs dug into her eyes as she turned to face her in her desk chair.

Janette frowned before nodding slowly, "It's outside of the City, Yes. Far outside any city, actually. But the money is good, and I can do a lot of things with Money so I'm agreeing to it."

Ashley's yellow eyes narrowed in on hers, and Janette could tell that thoughts were flying in that sharp mind of hers. It had startled her when the kid had been dropped in her lap those two years ago, and if she were honest with herself it still did, when the child had gone from speaking like a child to that of a young lady in a week and a half, and then to that of a full grown adult in a month or two after the Fall.

Janette blamed it on the Trauma, Ashley blamed it on all of the books she had managed to read in that time.

Janette steeled herself for the actual reason for her coming here, "As you know, you have managed to scare off every Parent looking to adopt with minimal effort. You are now the last Orphan of Mount Glenn," So far so good, start with facts and then move into the touchier subjects, "And you have shown an inability or lack of motivation to make friends with other children here. It seems that the only people you talk to are the Matrons around the Orphanage and Me."

A Terse nod accompanied by a fiercely intense gaze were leveled upon her in response. "That's because you're the only ones that I want to talk to," what went unsaid was the fact that she never did anything she didn't want to. That she violently and inventively resisted anything that she saw as unnecessary or unhelpful.

"Yes, well," Janette started fitfully before deciding to just take the plunge with a sigh, "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with me. If you wanted to be adopted." She waited with a wince as the silence stretched on, those yellow eyes never leaving hers. The light in them seemed to flicker like the flame of a candle or campfire, before a genuine smile began to show on her face.

Ashley's face broke into a grin that rivalled the sun in intensity that left Janette stunned, "I think I'd like that, Miss Janette." Janette smiled at the young girl, content in her choice to take her in. She had lost her husband to alcohol a few years ago, who had drank himself to death after their only child had been beaten to death by her then husband. A horrible story, but one that should be left with the remnants of that gods forsaken City on the Mountain.

Now, as she let the child lead her to the Matron's office she could take solace in at least making one good choice in her life.

The smile on her new charge's face told her that clearly.

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

Gilrey was an old fart. He had been since he was twenty, crotchety and mean without reason and more bark than bite. No action came behind his words unless it was forced, and no action he took was one without complaint. So, he was an old fart, now looking the part at the ripe old age of eighty-four.

He knew it, his son and his daughter-in-law knew it. Everyone in town knew it, and treated him as such.

His body had been built up and then brought crashing down seemingly every year by the end of the Harvest, leaving him a feeble old man to grumble his way through the Winter.

Gilrey felt indignant that the world hadn't taken him yet, as though it owed him the rest he had earned farming in some of the most dangerous parts of the Wilderness for people he knew nothing about. He had hoped that it would cash it in before all of his bodily aches coalesced into a giant ball of pain that we wore like a suit, but it had left him to his job for thirty years like that. He had hoped it would be painless or understandable.

This had not stopped him from taking in the Injured man he had found on the outskirts of the small Hunting and Farming village, and nursing the man back to health as best he could. The middle-aged man was a fighter, the numerous scars left no doubt of that, and immense in size, dwarfing Gilrey in size easily. He had dislodged a Bullet that had barely not penetrated the man's Skull and removed the broken off end of a knife from the lining of his stomach, and numerous other unidentifiable objects from his body. Gilrey was impressed to say the least, and told him so the first and only time he had awakened from his sleep the night before.

Then tonight his Son had heard a sound from the treeline had begun to panic as a Grimm crept towards them. Gilrey had told him to take the rest of the Family to the Barn and he'd draw it off.

It had been a foolish plan.

Now he stared down the muzzle of an Ursa, he knew that he wasn't quite that fortunate. Its red eyes bared down on him as the snout inched closer to his position where he had been flung to the ground to be thrashed. Its nose sniffled in a deceptively cute fashion before it swiveled its head towards where his family had been sequestered in the farm, but he grabbed a pitchfork and stabbed at it to distract it. The blow clanged off of the Bone plate, but served its purpose as the eyes were once again welded on him.

He swallowed and cursed the gods for such a fate, much like he and his kin had done every time something had gone wrong. A paw planted itself on his chest and pinned him quickly as the beast's head dipped down to finish him off.

A sound akin to a cannon going off erupted from behind its bulk as its body was torn asunder by an explosion of some sort. Gilrey could only lay back and try to breath, the sight of his death having scared him more than he would have thought. It wasn't heart disease or a failing liver, as he so often thought it would be, but a Monster come to live to hunt him.

His breathing was too labored to utter a single word of thanks to the back of the man who had saved him, his massive green and brown form blending into the trees easily. The man turned and gave him a quick nod before he continued to walk into the treeline, the bandages that he had applied the night before still visible around the crown of his head.

Finally after his now recovered patient had walked far beyond his line of sight he mumbled a tired, "Thank you, Hazel," To the empty air above his head before scrambling to his feet to see to his family.

* * *

 _Interlude C_

* * *

 _When the Frozen Sands of the Deserts finally thaw,_

 _And miracles of wit and thought stop earning Awe,_

 _There will come a beast that stands above even the men of Old,_

 _Unbound to the whims of time and fearsome to behold,_

 _With the power to shake and crumble mountains with its Might,_

 _And the one who shall stand against it must fight for the Right,_

 _By becoming the one has ascended All Humanity,_

 _Or risk failing to prevent its End for his vanity._

 _-Ancient Vacuoan prophecy_

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

I could feel the curiosity spiking in the Audience of our impromptu staring contest, her staring blankly and mutely at me while I cheerfully smiled at her, as the seconds drew on. Finally she blinked and the moment passed, as a small quirk of the mouth told me that she found the situation to be entertaining. She shook her head at me, "Well, well, well. Fancy meeting you here," she teased lightly, with an underlying question.

I laughed nervously, knowing that Lying wasn't exactly a strong suit of mine, and rubbed the back of my head as I thought of a suitable response. "Uh," _Not a great start_ , "Nice to see you too?" _Nailed it_. The unimpressed stare that was levelled at me was mirrored by Cosma as I turned to look at her, though Roman was much more polite.

"Oh, I see you've met already," He declared glibly without looking up from his pad of paper, pausing only to adjust his glasses minutely, "How fortunate, no introductions necessary." He yelped and looked indignant when Cosma turned and casually snatched the bundle of papers, filled to the brim in ink.

"Be polite, Flunkie," She said with a smirk and hands on her hips, ignoring with ease the affronted look that appeared on his face, "The higher-ups are talkin', you should pay attention. You might learn something."

"I highly doubt it," he grumbled under his breath, but still turned to regard us with politely interested eyes. "So, let us in on the secret; How do you know each other?"

Once again, I felt like a deer in the headlights before a realization came over me; _it's not illegal to have stupid shit happen to you._ "Saved her from some Grimm a while ago." _Taylor was the one that had wanted to lie about our pasts, but I saw no real reason to._ "Long time ago." At the same time, I wasn't just gonna gush to the first person that asked. Instead, I turned to Ashley with a devious smile, "It was _so long ago_ , I'm having a hard time remembering exactly what happened. Maybe Ashley can fill ya in."

If I can't lie, then I might as well make someone else do it for me.

Ashley nodded, her eyes darting over to mine obviously trying to pass on some message or intent that I couldn't even begin to puzzle out before she turned to them herself. "I was six at the time so the details are pretty hazy, but he saved me from a group of beowulf after I was… stuck in a grocery store," a very convincing look of apprehension and confusion crossed her face for a moment, "If I'm remembering correctly."

I shrugged at the description, not seeing anything wrong with the description, as I turned to gauge how they took it. Cosma looked flabbergasted, while Roman's eyes were narrowed in on mine. "You saved her from Grimm, when you were a kid?" It seemed that his thus latent curiosity had spiked.

"It's not that hard," I said defensively, "I killed my first when I was Five and delirious from a buncha different shit goin' wrong at the time, all I had to do was beat it until it stopped moving," I finished with a lame chuckle, suddenly remembering why I had had no friends at my last school; I couldn't hold a conversation if my life depended on it. I bowed my head sheepishly, feeling heat blossoming in my cheeks at the scrutiny that I was receiving, and when I looked back up it was to the sight of the three staring at me incredulously.

The first to recover was Ashley, who shrugged with a Hum, as though she had almost expected it, before she moved over to her bed and began to shuffle papers around. Roman looked like someone had smacked him in the mouth, and he was muttering something that sounded suspiciously like " _Not that Hard…?_ " as he looked to his hands as though to make sure he was indeed still in reality.

Cosma topped the both of them by blinking once and then vibrating in place, chanting something quick enough that it sounded closer to the galloping hooves of a Horse, before she was suddenly in front of me, holding my hands while she danced a little jig. "You can't just tell me half a story, What happened?! Why were you fighting a Beowulf in the first place?"

And so I told her, and the other two by proxy, what I could remember. If I were any normal person, my first memory would be something inane like falling when I was learning to walk or something else, but I wasn't and instead the first and single most defining moment in my life was beating a monster to death. To say that my laughs throughout the story, especially describing Nan's state at the end of it, looked out of place with the increasingly alarmed and worried looks I was on the receiving end of would have been an understatement.

I couldn't help the laughing though, as Fenrir was providing running commentary on the entire thing, and the indignant furball was downright _surly_ whenever it came to that night.

The change in demeanor was jarring to say the least.

I finished the story with the same lack of aplomb that I did everything else, and used the suddenness of the end to switch the subject away from me to _anyone else_. I pointed at Cosma, who jolted into alertness as my finger was only a few inches from her face, "And what about you, Girlie?," I pointedly ignored the snort of laughter from Ashley, "What's your story? You're askin' an awful lot of questions."

Her face split into an uneasy smile and she flapped her hands in front of her face, "Nothing as interesting as your story," I gestured for her to continue, as any story was worth hearing at least once, "Well, literally nothing interesting has happened to me in my life. I was born in Atlas before my Dad was shipped out to a frontier town, where the Huntsmen on duty taught me and my sister what they could, and I got out of there as quick as I could," She finished with a shrug.

Roman leaned over and mock whispered towards, "I bet the Townsfolk were glad to have her gone." He winked at me as Cosma flew into a rage. I only laughed in response.

Ashley let out a tinkling laugh before she checked her Scroll and announced that it was time to eat.

Instantly Cosma and I were standing at attention, ready and willing to go.

* * *

I sat down at the table that Roman had picked out, dropping my plates in front of me with a satisfied sigh. If I had been happy when Dinner was announced then I was _ecstatic_ when I learned that it was open buffet. A smile spread across my face as I rubbed my hands in front of my face, looking down upon the three plates full of Food.

A plate filled to the Brim with Mashed Potatoes, Another with a pile of various meats standing four inches off of its face, and another holding a bowl of Vegetable Stew. A low Rumble escaped my mouth as I grabbed my spoon to begin to dig in, before I was distracted momentarily by another loud _thump_ from beside me. I wasn't surprised to find Taylor sitting there, nearly salivating over the meal in front of her.

This would be the moment that the fact I was no longer scrounging through the forest for my next meal hit me.

The thought wasn't one I had thought about, but it was extremely fortunate. And while I may have been able to go a longer time than most without Food, I still got hungry and thirsty. And seeing as they didn't always appear on my Status page I knew it to be entirely mental, but I still liked to Eat. **[Instinct]** made the process especially fun, as I could isolate particular tastes in a meal and piece together most of what into the dish.

And now that I had a constant food source? No way in hell I was gonna leave that be.

"You act like you haven't eaten in a week," came my next distraction, in the form of Emily. She was wearing clothes that made me feel stuffy and unable to move for her, made out of materials that probably cost more money than I had ever even seen.

Taylor stopped eating long enough to answer her, "Before this morning it had been two days." Emily was silenced by the response and she began to eat in a much more refined manner, which wasn't exactly hard. In fact, the sight of them sitting across form each other while looking so at odds nearly made me chuckle.

"I was wondering why they were out of Beef," came the calm tones of Roman, who was carrying only a bowl of Stew. He gestured with his open hand towards my plate, to which I shrugged. He sat at the end of the quickly filling Table, followed by the prancing form of Cosma, with a bowl filled above the brim with Ice Cream.

I pointed at the midget with the hand holding the spoon, "She gonna be able to Sleep with that?" It was the only amount of food that came close to mine, and it was entirely sugar. I feel like it was warranted.

"She always eats this unhealthily," he responded casually.

"It ain't unhealthy," She squawked before pointing at me with her spoon in retaliation. The difference was that _hers_ had been in her Ice Cream, and I felt my face get splattered lightly in the dairy product. "There's a banana in here… Somewhere. And Bananas are healthy! Which means that this is healthy!" She smiled in triumph before digging in with aggression.

"Flawless Logic, as always," Roman responded as he produced a Handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Right," I growled as I wiped off my face before tossing it back to him. I turned back to my untouched food, but was surprised by the sight of Shebul sitting across from me. When he saw me he nodded respectfully, but silently continued to eat his food. I blinked before nodding back.

"He's in our Team," Emily clarified for me. She smiled at him, and he nodded once again respectfully in her direction, "I wasn't sure what he'd be like outside of class, but so far he's been nothing short of polite," then her eyes sliced over to the girl at my right, "Unlike some people I could mention."

"Go trip on a Rake," was the eloquent response from Taylor as she spoke around the food in her mouth. The light in her eyes was devious and she patted me on the side, "At least you aren't stuck with this one."

Emily's eyes met mine and I smiled sheepishly at her inquisitive look, "Him? He seems polite enough," Neither me nor Taylor could suppress the snorts that comment caused, and Emily narrowed her eyes in response to the abrasive noise, "But What would I know, I've only known you for a few hours."

"Girlie," I began, trying to start my eventual assholery off gently, "The only reason you think I'm polite is because you couldn't hear what I was saying underneath the pile of clothes I was Carrying for you," I kept the similar statement involving Taylor's Comments to myself, "And if there's one thing you'll learn about me is that I may be kind to my friends, but I am _never_ polite. I'm also quite good at annoying people," I said before I went to take my first bite.

The spoonful of soup was knocked off course as another person sat down on my left, and I mourned the food as it went back into its bowl. I turned and saw Ashley, with a much smaller portion of food and a book in hand. I sighed, frowning as I waited for her to settle into her position before she knocked my soup off trajectory again.

"Donlevy," came the curt words from the interloper. I raised an eyebrow as I could feel a little heat radiating off of her form as she sat down.

"Ashley," came the equally stilted response, "Don't you look… _lovely_ today."

"Thank you," was the polite response, somehow filled with venom, "Though I must say it's odd to see you wearing anything so out of fashion."

"Well at least I'm not wearing my mother's hand-me-downs," came Emily's snide response, "And my tops actually fit, unlike you. It looks like you still have room to grow."

I looked between the two, and gulped at the intensity of the glares being exchanged in silence as well as the slowly increasing heat, and since the table had only been made to comfortably hold eight people I knew that any movement at all would be noticed. And the worst part was that if I went to take a bite of food it would literally bring my face in the direct path of their staredown.

I received looks of sympathy from Shebul, Roman, and some other young man who was sat at another Table, as they too saw my predicament.

I could only sigh and wait them out while Taylor and Cosma continued eating oblivious to the showdown.

And I hadn't even got to take a bite.

* * *

I yawned as I opened the Door for Ashley, who entered without saying a word. I shuffled in out of the cold Icy wind and shook off the few crystals of ice that had gathered in my hair. I was deflated, having been forced to scoff down my Dinner in only minutes after trying to wait out the catfight. The rest of the Dinner had been filled with Hidden and not-so-Hidden Barbs that had made me increasingly uncomfortable.

Give me a Grimm anyday over petty squabbling, at least I can punch the Grimm.

We made our way towards where Mr. G had pointed out the Headmaster's Office the day before, and I noted that the decorations were much closer to exhibits you would see in Museums than I had expected from the Hallway to a Headmaster's Office.

We reached the top of the Stairs and a few feet away was a Door labeled _Headmaster_ , and when I expected at least a little apprehension from my companion she surprised me by matching me step for step. It struck me as a little odd that there was no anxiety at approaching a room usually reserved for punishments. She reached the door and opened it for me, and I stepped through the portal and found myself in… A library?

The walls on either side of the room were bookcases and the walls that were visible were paneled in hardwood, as was the Floor. The Desk that was the only feature of the Room outside of the books was made of the same dark brown stained wood, and it completed the very earthy feel of the Room well.

After I inspected the Room I turned my eyes to the figure who was currently watching me from behind the Desk. "Please sit, young man."

I ignored the order for a moment and narrowed my eyes at the Nametag before looking the Imperious woman in the Face. Green Eyes behind Glasses, Tanned skin, and Long Blonde hair that was no longer kept up in a ponytail. Her Clothes had been exchanged for a very put together Business Suit as well as a Black Turtleneck underneath. In fact without the Nametag I was very sure That I wouldn't have recognized her.

The quirked eyebrow, the imperious tone, and the Mountain of Books behind her kind of gave it away though. Ashley had stopped next to me, and she was giving me a look that said she expected me to have followed the command, and so I did. I sat down and mirrored the Woman's posture as comfortably as I could, Shoulders relaxed with my arms sat upon the armrests, and a Leg thrown haphazardly over the other.

"You, young man, have a lot of explaining to do," She said, the cold tone in her voice unflinching.

Well rehearsed.

I ignored the statement as I had yet to hear a question. She simply stared at me, and I at her before I noticed a change on her face. The corner of her lip was curling upwards into the beginnings of a smile.

"What, do I still owe you for those books I checked out?" I cheekily stated, reusing the same _horrible_ joke as I had upon our meeting, "You've done well for yourself Janette."

 **[Janette Newman]**

 **[Level 19 Librarian]**

 **[Silence is Golden]**

She laughed openly and relaxed her position in her chair to something more natural, "Yes, Well, I had good help. And look at you! Coming back from the Dead without looking a day older than the last we saw you," she said as she pointed at Ashley, who looked completely relaxed in her chair, "Hell, you even brought your friend along too! You have to let me in on your secret to looking young, or I may just wither away here."

I snorted at the woman's words, as she looked as though she hadn't aged a day. "Dust accident. When we got separated Me and Taylor-"

"Taylor and I," she corrected absently.

"-Had to follow a Tunnel out from under the Mount. Almost got out without any issues when some massive crystals of Purple Dust activated and… Froze us in Time? Something like that," I concluded as I scratched the back of my head, "I ain't a scientist-" I ignored the cough from Ashley that sounded suspiciously like _obviously_ , "-So I don't know what happened or what caused it beyond that."

She quirked an eyebrow at me, and I only smiled in response, "You could ask Taylor if you don't believe me."

"Oh, do not worry about not believing you," She said amicably, "If it was going to happen to anyone, it would be the young man that near single handedly saved almost half the population of a Major City," I sent her a questioning gaze, and in response she waved at hand at the books along the walls which I saw were mostly related to history, "I've read a lot of Things in my life, and quite a lot of it has been since we last met, to try and learn what I could from them. And I have found that once one odd or miraculous thing happens to a person then they are exponentially more likely to have another happen to them."

She stood and grabbed three books from seemingly random places on the Bookshelf before she returned to her seat and began to flick through them. "If you don't believe me, look at the Histories of Rostam, the Fifth emperor of Mistral who had to fight a Beowulf when he was Twelve to court his future wife. Born to Peasants there was no reason that he should have been anywhere near royalty, but he managed to not only win the right to court the Emperor's Daughter but managed to marry her. He then went on to fight in four different wars and almost died every single time, with the recovery being so unheard of that people claimed he was born from the First God and as long as he could see the Sun he would never die. Then he dies on an eclipse," I snorted before taking the Book from where she had placed it in front of me.

I would have laughed at the absurdity of the story, except this had only been 75 years ago, and there was picture proof of the man's tale. Two more books were slid towards me, open to more pictures of the same man, in various states of unwell in dark photos and fighting fit in the sunlight. "And this pattern repeats itself so often, with someone having one thing or another happen for the rest of their life after the first. This man would have been just another peasant without the first incident I am sure, but one choice always leads people to History books."

"Right," I said slowly, obviously not grasping something she was trying to tell me, "Is that why you called me here?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation back to the original intent.

"No, no. I called you here to explain to you the Practices of the School, and what makes it so very different to other combat schools. As we don't have as much funding as the City Academies, we have a very different approach to Teaching. For a month you are here on campus, learning in the classroom and sparring with your peers. During this time the non-combat classes are held, ending with a test at the end of the month," She stopped and looked at me, and I nodded to let her know I had understood the insultingly simple statements, "The next month is spent traveling with your Roommates, your Team as it were, and a Combat Teacher or Hunter the School assigns you. You will be traveling around and completing Hunts and updating the Maps we have. These are month long excursions and are made in concert with the Cities and other Academies, so you will be expected to leave the continent if the Call is placed for assistance. Though your first Month will be the testing period, and as such you will be in spitting distance of the Campus as a precaution," She flashed a smile at me and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "And that is all. Any Questions?"

"Uh," I began before smirking mischievously, "Who's the Lucky Mr. Newman?"

She blinked at me before Laughing, "My Husband is the Head of Security of the Campus as Well as the Groundskeeper, one Mister Raul Newman. Right now he's currently assisting a Village near Vacuo, and unfortunately won't be back for a few days," She gave me a indiscernible look, aided by the way the light reflected off of her Glasses and blocked her eyes form mine, as she tilted her head towards me, "But for what it's worth… I think you'd get along with him."

"Of course, who wouldn't get along with me," I agreed with false arrogance, and I chuckled when she laughed.

"I will not dignify that with a response," She said as Ashley stood from her chair quickly, "But I feel like I've taken quite a bit of your night. Don't be a stranger, and do tell me if your Team leader is being difficult," She leaned towards me and stage-whispered, "I've been assured that she can get be difficult to get along with."

"Thanks for the Vote of Confidence, _Mom_ ," Came the Reply from Ashley, one that left me stunned for a second, "Now could you please stop trying to embarass me?" I shook of the Shock and stood with a nod of my Head to Janette to Follow my Team Leader, apparently also the adopted Daughter of the Headmaster.

' _Great_.'

"Never," came the retort from Janette, "I got you late so I have to catch up. Besides you're too serious as it is."

Ashley turned around as I passed her to shoot a heated glare at her mother, "Shouldn't a Mother be happy that her Daughter is Mature, possibly more mature than herself?" And with that she closed the door before shaking her head and moving away from it. "Not a word to the others, Are we Clear?"

I pantomimed locking my lips shut and dropping the Key, before a Smile broke out across my face. "Is there anyway we could stop by the Cafeteria and get seconds?"

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 _Short Chapter is Short, and character building and such is slow. Jericho here, just to address a few comments and explain some crap._

 _To Zen-Aku The Spirit Wolf; I'd agree that in a general setting the use of Stamina, and to a further extent Hp, as a means to bolster Damage would be a bad idea. That is why he is beginning to become more conservative in his use of such skills, and instead rely on basic attacks or only utilizing as much Stamina or health as he can replace in an allotted amount of time. That being said, the same could be said for Aura for most Huntsmen and characters in the show who can exactly zero hits without their Aura, but they still throw that shit around like its infinite._

 _Beyond the inability to take a hit, this is number two on my list of things I wish to reconcile with in this story; The excessive use of Semblances and Aura Techniques. The biggest offender is Ruby, whose fighting style is literally the use of her Semblance with a Weapon; Spinning that shite like a top to produce force or taking a running start to gain momentum for a strike._

 _One good hit while she's moving and she's down, because she sacrifices the defensive potential for the use of her Semblance._

 _The Best of the main characters on this is probably Yang or Ren, with the close possibility of Nora. All three rely on their weapons more than their Semblances, all for different reasons of course, and actually have styles of fighting that don't rely on it to actually win unless shit goes down._

 _Don't even get me started on Lawful Good Paladin Jaune._

 _To Dalan777; I'm really glad that you noticed that, but I'd say that it's more the concept than the specific iteration that appears in Red Riding Hood. Symbolically speaking, The crystallization of fear in a Story setting is the Forest. Heroes walk through them during periods of doubt and unrest, villains reside there, and only one thing can walk through them without feeling their effects; The Big Bad Wolf. A representation not only of Man's fear of Nature, but of Violence and Sin._

 _It is used as a projection of ill intent upon the world, which is why it appears in stories as the unnamed antagonist or as a force that exists only to screw over or derail well laid plans or conventions. In Little Red Riding Hood, for example, the Wolf has a few different possible incarnations depending on the time period or translation from the original Grimm Fairy Tales._

 _He could be the opportunistic animal, looking only to get his belly full as the most common version would have it, A friend that she walked to her Grandmother's house everyday until the Old lady threw him out, at which point he eats her and the Girl in retaliation for a perceived wrong, or as an anthropomorphic Beast that seeks to deceive because he wishes to. In any of the stories he serves as the actual message in the story, not any of the other characters. Even the Huntsman is less important than the the Big Bad Wolf, as without him the moral of the story wouldn't even exist, obviously the story isn't actually about Red Riding Hood being naive._

 _It's about her being hurt by the Wolf._

 _In this Way, Ruby is actually a very good analogy of what the original Grimm Fairy tales were trying to get across; the Naive and Kind are inevitably hurt or devoured by the Wicked, whether through their own actions or by the inability to cope with the situation. In this sense the Wolf is more a culmination of the word_ Danger _more than "Damn Nature, You scary," and it was this exact symbol that I wanted to capitalize upon._

 _To Reaper4425; Be careful with those Curse Words. *Finger Guns in your direction*_

 _In general, I wanted to let people in on how I've made up these Original Characters, as it makes me happy just thinking about the process, and it might be fun for those interested._

 _Each Character is based off of a Song that I listened to on Repeat while I made their characters, and this includes the process for Austin past the Dice rolling for his stat progression and Traits. I'll only include two of the songs, as they might be spoilers for the character's development if I give them all out. Also, every character has a specific Genre that I listen to while writing anything related to them._

 _My youtube recommendations are confused._

 _Austin = "Man on Fire" by Oh The Larceny_

 _Shebul Al'Araid = "World War Me" by Theory of a Deadman_

 _Austin and Taylor are the only ones that have more than one Song, though that will change in the Future._

 _Besides that, I'd like to Thank those of you who read this far and ask that you leave any concerns or questions as a review and I'll make it a point to respond if I can._

 _Enough outta me,_

 _Jericho Out._

 _P.S. Someone get me a Stick figure drawing of what they think Austin Looks like, as I need a picture for the Cover Art. It feels incomplete without it._


	14. Level 1: Part 5

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _The shattered moon hung low in the night sky, the last sounds of dwindling activity on the island of Patch riding the winds out to sea. The last vestiges of winter dusted the ground and froze the dirt paths that crisscrossed the landscape. In a heavily wooded area stood a stout and sturdy log cabin, made of relatively new wood, the cores still green in some places. The path that lead up to it was newly made and still had stubborn plant growth trying and failing to retake the earth._

 _The Cabin was relatively simple in design, caused by both intention and lack of architectural experience on part of it's four builders. The Cabin held five rooms; a Master bedroom that held little to no furnishings beyond a single picture on the nightstand next to the bed, another bedroom just as large as the Master housing a small crib and a child's bed surrounded by an excessive amount of toys and dolls, a guest room that had a set of bunk beds shoved against the wall across from a menagerie of tools, a room that served as both living room and kitchen to similar levels of failure, and a lonesome bathroom with a jury rigged plumbing system._

 _From down the hallway that led to the guest room and the children's room came the soft noises of sleep that young children made, but the softness of it did little to remove the exhaustion etched into two of three adults sitting at the makeshift dinner table._

 _A well-built blonde man sprawled in his rickety chair his eyes having closed the moment he sat down. The steam from a cup of black coffee wafted up into the eyes of his equally tired compatriot, a black-haired man wearing raggedy clothing and a tattered half-cape. The man had resisted sleep only slightly better than his friend, having the wherewithal to have posted up an arm to rest his head upon. It would have been better if hadn't been holding a full baby bottle in the hand of said arm, leading to a soggy sleeve and a drenched table._

 _Both of the men at the table had bags under their eyes and stubble across their face from lack of shaving, their clothes disheveled and wrinkled. To be frank, they looked absolutely tuckered. The woman stationed at the coffee machine watched them snore away with silver eyes and a smile on her lips. She brushed a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear as she turned to begin pouring herself a cup of coffee._

 _From down the hall came the shrill call of her child, eliciting involuntary shudders from the men slumbering at the table even in their sleep. She chuckled before gracefully gliding down the hallway bottle in hand. She opened the door to find the bleary, purple eyed stare of her almost three year old daughter whose untamed mass of hair stood on end in defiance of gravity. A trait that she knew from experience she had gotten from her father. The wailing of her month old daughter devolved into a babbling brook of hiccups and coos as she stepped towards the crib and shook the bottle._

 _She was already such a smart child, knowing exactly how to get food when she wanted it._

" _Summ- Momma, is she really hungry again?" came the same question as the sleep addled girl's brain began to boot up and she began to stumble over from her bed._

" _She needs to eat a lot right now, Yang," came the same soft admonishment from Summer as she scooped up the baby and put the bottle to her lips, "And I told you that you didn't have to call me mother if you didn't want to," even if she was preening at how easily she was being accepted by the child of her teammate and pseudo-sister on the inside._

" _And I told you that I was gonna call you Momma," came the mulish response from the young girl, "If you're gonna be my Momma, I'll call you Momma," she said with all the finality of a two year old, two and a half as she was so proud of saying, and then they were moving towards Yang's Bed. They both sat on the bed and Yang immediately reached her hands out at her little sister in the universal sign for "Gimme."_

 _The young blonde had initially revolted at the thought of Summer replacing her mother, even going so far as to try and run out the door as though to search for her herself. Her Father, Uncle, and Summer had sat her down to explain that it wasn't a replacement. Just an extra._

 _The next time Taiyang had taken her into town she had proceeded to brag about having more parents than anyone else._

 _When Summer and Taiyang had offered to let her uncle sleep in her bed and her in the guest room, they had both ignored Qrow's indignant squawking from behind them, she had shook her head and adamantly refused to leave her new sister behind. Even if it meant getting up every time she cried._

 _Summer absently hoisted both of her daughters into her lap and began to settle Yang's hair about her head. They sat there silently, one of them content to squirm as though dancing in joy as she took in her food, the other cooing at what Summer assumed Yang saw as a living baby doll for her to pamper, and one simply soaking in the peace of it all. Eventually her youngest's eyes drifted closed, her breathing evened out as sleep took her, and Summer's arms carefully lifted her out of Yang's lap, the blonde being a little too young to be trusted with lifting the baby, and Yang rolled off of her Mother's lap._

 _Summer rolled her eyes in response, having predicted the behavior long beforehand, before moving to place Ruby into her crib. She turned to look at the extremely awake Yang, who sat in her bed looking the picture of innocence and cheer. She sent her a bright smile, that Summer didn't trust for a moment._

 _Her Daughters were alike in at least one regard._

 _Summer sighed and Yang cheered before scooting over to make room for her to sit down next to her. "Only one story, Yang," Summer repeated the one rule for these nightly readings as she sat down next to her._

" _I know," came the toddler's deceptively sweet voice as she pulled the covers up and got comfy to listen to the stories of her Mother._

" _Mmhmm," came Summer's response as she tried to think of another story to tell her, "Do you have any type of story you want to hear in particular?" she asked as she stalled for time and possibly an answer._

" _One I haven't heard before," came the thoughtful response even as Yang wrinkled her nose at a thought, "And nothing about fighting Grimm. Daddy tells me all of those stories enough as it is."_

 _Summer chuckled as she remembered with similar emotions the vigour that Taiyang put into his stories, going so far as to use whatever he was holding as a sword against whatever monster he was fighting in the story._

 _Which was odd, as he was the only member of their team that didn't use a sword at some point._

" _Yeah, those aren't my type of story anyways," And it was true, she had always been interested in the romantic genres, where the hero helps people more than fighting. She racked her brain even as her mouth began listing out old folk tales to tell._

" _The tale of the Seasons?"_

" _You told me that one last week," Yang shot down with ease._

" _The Two Brothers?"_

" _Wednesday," came the riposte._

" _The Knight and the Witch?"_

" _Last night," she said as she shook her head in disappointment, "Maybe I'll go wake up Uncle Qrow and he can tell me a good one."_

 _Summer paled briefly at the thought of any story Qrow would have for her before she smirked in triumph._

" _Have you heard about the Revenant?" She asked in mock distraction, watching as the young blonde's eyes snapped to her with interest out of the corner of her eyes._

" _No. No, I haven't!" she said excitedly before being shushed by her mother for being too loud._

" _Oh you haven't, have you? Well that simply will not do," Summer stated as she drew Yang's interest further and tutted to make a show out of the fact, "No daughter of mine will go through life without hearing this story."_

" _What's it about? What's it about?" Yang almost vibrated in place as the anticipation overcame her, even as Summer gently placed a hand on her shoulder to silence her._

" _I'll tell you if you let me," at Yang's excited nodding she began the Tale, "This story starts like most of the stories we have from the past; with an argument between an old Man and an old Lady," Yang's snickers erupted from her nostrils as she tried not to laugh at Summer's total disrespect of two of the most important figures in the history of Remnant._

" _The Old Wizard had just begun his war against the Witches Grimm with those that he taught to protect themselves, and he began to see a very small problem; namely that the Grimm were playing the game in Quantity over Quality. It seemed that every one of his Hunters could take 49 Grimm on their own, but there always seemed to be number 50," she said sadly for effect, "So after maybe a year of the fighting he was visited by the Witch herself in a dream. She told him that there was nothing he could do, she could make Grimm faster than he could hunt them, and that he should just admit defeat now and save the world a whole boatload of suffering. The Old Wizard refused to back down from the fight, determined to save the Humans and prove that they could overcome their faults._

" _He awoke the next day and mulishly set about creating a solution to the problem at hand. First he tried to give a Hunter the ability to recreate himself, imbuing him with his Magic of Creation. Immediately, the clones of the Hunter refused to simply fight for him if they were destined to be killed and they all fled upon creation. The Wizard took back his magic from the Hunter and set off to try something else. He tried afterwards to make it so that someone couldn't die, and gave another Hunter the Magic of Immortality. As it turns out, the Magic keeps someone alive throughout all damage, but can't heal without the Magic of Creation to help out. He sighed as he took his magic back from the Hunter who silently pleaded to be released after being dismembered by an Ursa. He trudged on, determined to use his Magics to create the solution. Next he gave a Huntress the Magic of Knowledge, convinced that if humans knew all that no attack would ever touch them. The moment the Huntress went out to fight she was blindsided by a small pack of beowolves, who had gone unnoticed by the huntress as she focused on the knowledge she wanted instead of the knowledge she needed. Downtrodden and now out of options the Wizard returned to sleep."_

 _Yang stared with wide eyes up at Summer as she told the story, and as she took a breath Yang took the opportunity to voice her concerns, "But we're still here, and so are the Grimm. Why haven't we lost yet?" her voice was small, but Summer smiled at her as she continued the Tale._

" _In his dreams he found the Witch waiting for him, looking as smug as he assumed she would. He admitted defeat and kneeled before her asking her to spare the Human race that she despised so much, offering himself as payment for the act of pulling back the Grimm or allowing humanity to continue," she smiled kindly at her Daughter who looked sad at the words, "And the Witch accepted, on one condition."_

 _Summer let the silence drag on and waited for the curiosity to overtake the girl. "What did she want?" she asked finally._

" _The Witch had not spent all of her time trying to destroy humanity like the Wise Old Fool thought she had. She had been trying to replicate it. Every new creature she made was more intelligent than the last, but nowhere near the levels of smarts that Humanity showed on a regular basis," she reached out with her pointer finger and gently tapped Yang on the forehead, "She had made a few Grimm in the shape of Humanity, but still they only acted in the ways of the Grimm._

" _So in return for allowing Humanity to live, the Witch asked only for the secret of intelligence and the Old Wizard's life." Summer concluded._

 _Yang looked up at her with more confusion than any other emotion, "That's nice of her, I think?" she began to blush as Summer openly laughed at her, "But I thought the Grimm were stupid? Did she not get what she wanted?"_

" _Why, my astute little student, you are very insightful tonight," she teased as she finished chuckling and snuggled up next to the little blonde on her bed, "You are correct, though. Once the Wizard had agreed to the deal, and hence bound the Witch to it as well as himself, he told her the secret of Ingenuity. It was out of her grasp. Not because of anything the Old Wizard did, mind you, but simply because the Two Brothers had dictated that only humans could have Free Will, which is the true fuel of innovation, long ago. Even as the Wizard was killed by the Witch in her Anger she knew that she had been beaten. She had forsaken her soul when she had given herself to the Grimm, and hence couldn't create a soul on her own."_

 _Yang looked aghast at the way the story had gone, but like every other person on Remnant she knew that to live was to die in a usually horrible fashion, yet she still couldn't believe it, "She killed the Old Wizard?" at her Mother's nod she continued on in her questions, "But Daddy told me that the Wizard was Immortal, because of that Magic stuff?" the little girl seemed utterly flabbergasted by the story._

 _"And he is right, in a way. Much like the Man gifted with immortality he simply continued after his body was decimated, but due to the nature of the deal he had made his body died like he had agreed to. But his Soul continued on, and it is said that he simply grabs a young man every hundred years to continue his war against the Grimm. Some even say that it's the Same Old Wizard that Dies at the end of each story."_

" _He sounds stubborn," came the sleepy yawn in response._

 _Summer hummed as she stood from the bed and moved to check on Ruby before she left, "Coming from you, that must mean something."_

* * *

 _End of Interlude_

* * *

It had been done.

My greatest enemy had been vanquished, and its body was being dealt with as I watched it sink into the cold depths-

"Austin, what are you doing in the bathroom," Asked my partner and leader, Ashley, who was much too perceptive for my liking, as she came in to observe the end of my battle, "...Did you just flush your tie down the Toilet?"

"You can't prove it," I answered quickly, "And even if you could I'd deny it."

"Austin, it's part of the Uniform," She said in exasperation, "You have to wear one, or you will continue to rack up detentions as you did on your _first day_ ," She shook her head at my antics as she straightened the Cream brown Jacket that the School's uniform top consisted of in the mirror one last time, before her eyes shot down to my feet where the school issue shoes were missing, "And I swear to whatever deity is watching and playing with my life I will skin you alive if you show up to class without the uniform shoes again."

"Yes, Well maybe they should stop giving me uncomfortable things to conveniently lose," I retorted petulantly, a light scowl adorning my face, "And the shoes aren't the right size, so they're definitely not coming with me."

"Ooh, are you fighting the system already?" came a call from the connected Room as Cosma ducked her head around the Doorframe, "This early in the morning? Color me impressed."

Ashley quickly rounded on her with hands set on her hips and a harsh glare behind her glasses, "Yes, and we know that he was basically born a _wildman_ while you have no such excuse," Her voice raised as she yelled into our room, " **Roman! Is she wearing her uniform bottoms?** "

"No, she stole two pairs of mine," came the extremely muffled response, "One to wear, and one to hogtie me with. And she's trying to impersonate Austin and dispose of her skirts somehow, most likely like a pyromaniac."

"Traitor!" Cosma yelped as Ashley stomped towards her fleeing form as she threw open the door and sprinted out into the Hallway.

Ashley raged even as her voice began to fade with the distance, "Cosma! You've been attending the Academy for _years_. What in the World are you _thinking_ -" I laughed as I exited the Bathroom to the sight of Roman in his proper uniform trussed up like a fresh kill. His eyes stared blankly out into the Middle-distance of the floor, and his face was set in a world-weary look that reminded me an awful lot of Nan and the Veterans dealing with the young bucks.

I pulled out the Knife Nan had gifted me so long ago and moved towards him with a wide smile. "She used to be such a nice girl," He mumbled morosely into the Covers of his bed causing me to laugh as I undid a very complex knot, "When she got here she was so quiet, such a good reading buddy, and I have _no idea_ what happened to her."

"Freedom, Most Like," I answered gruffly as his limbs limply came undone. He moved to a seated position and rubbed at his wrists before he picked up his Scroll and his notebook, "And if I'm honest, I can't say it isn't fun to watch the chaos," I informed him with a smirk as we exited the dorm to follow our partners.

His face warped and he shot me look of mild panic, "Is it bad that I agree with you?" I let loose a laugh, and he looked sick at the lack of an answer, as the silence was obviously an affirmative, but he simply sighed a put upon sigh and grumbled about the _infectious Crazy_ as he pulled off ahead and headed to class.

It was the First day of classes that weren't Mr. G's Combat Class, and I had enjoyed it immensely even if there hadn't been any sparring. We had spent the entire class going over the origins of different forms of combat and why it was a good idea to diversify among them. I had been called to stay behind after class, as the very spiffy professor was a stickler for the uniform code and I was decidedly _not_.

He had taken exception and had given me detention, to which everyone had given me looks of sympathy over though I couldn't for the life of me fathom. For about two hours he had me lifting weights and running around the School, at the same time mind you, while he recited poetry for me to repeat back to him until he had gotten tired. I had gained a level in **[Physical Conditioning]** from the time, so I hadn't minded all that much though the man had given me some grief for it.

I walked into the Building that housed the Classrooms, outside of Combat, for those in the Huntsmen Courses, and found the classroom easily, as I could hear the bickering that seemed to follow my friends. That and I had a one in three chance to choose correctly, as only three rooms in the building were occupied by more than one person. I walked in the Door to the room and immediately ducked under a book that flew threw the air as I made my way to the space my Team had grouped up in a cluster of desks.

"Mornin'," I said with a yawn as I moved past Taylor's Team, waving at them as I kept walking. Emily politely waved back before continuing her reading, while Shebul was in no position to see my wave, and someone I assumed was the Fourth member of their Team just watched me with uneasy eyes.

"Were they this hectic last night?" Taylor asked curiously as she watched Roman's belongings continuously snatched from his hands as the two girls tried to pull him into their argument about the utility of rules.

"Look," He finally muttered at them, "Rules are useful, and generally speaking they have reasons behind them," At this Ashley smiled at him with a nod and Cosma frowned in his direction, "But they are also stifling and without use when they have no discernible benefit," Ashley's smile faded a tad as Cosma laughed loudly and smacked the desk as he agreed with her point, "And finally, both of you are _insufferable in the morning_ , so shut it."

I had to give the man credit, he had an amazing poker face. Both of the girls Harrumphed at his statement and turned towards the front of the classroom to wait for the Teacher to arrive.

"Couldn't agree more," came the tired voice of Shebul from his position with his head resting on his arms. I snorted at the words before I moved over to take a seat next to Cosma, who didn't even dignify my presence with words. I did notice that she was still not wearing the uniform skirt, which I assume was what the argument had spawned from.

' _Cosma 1, Ashley 0,_ ' I thought with an internal laugh.

I looked up at the rest of the class and found that the eight people I didn't recognize were socializing among themselves, with a few glances thrown in the direction of our two teams, who were solidly in the Back of the classroom's seating arrangements. There was also the one person who was trying to stare holes in the side of my head for whatever reason, but she stopped when the door flew open to reveal who I assumed to be the teacher.

 **[Marsha Mourie]**

 **[Level 41 Demolitionist]**

 **[** _ **Destroy to Understand**_ **]**

The words clashed with the mousy woman carrying a stack of books and papers into the classroom, as she wasn't the large or imposing character I'd expect to see with her Nametag revolving around destruction. I watched her shuffle into the classroom and place all of her materials on the desk at the front of the room before turning to the room with a beatific smile on her face. Her hair was short and light brown, with tanned skin dotted with freckles, but the most noticeable thing about her person was definitely the Large billowy robes that seemed specifically for desert climates.

"I certainly hope you're ready to learn history," she said, and I heard basically everyone in the room shuffle around as they grabbed papers and pencils. Even Shebul had lurched to attention at the sound of her voice. "I thought so," she said with the same smile before the white board behind her suddenly filled with words that seemed to flow through the air from the books and papers on the desk.

It was a tad bit Mind bending.

"Time to dive in," she called as she rubbed her hands together in front of her face, and with that the words began to _move_. Pictures flowed, diagrams filled in with what she spoke about, and I very quickly found myself floundering as she swept through History with a passion. I saw people scrambling to keep up with the ink that flowed on the board, but I gave that up quickly and focused on the pictures.

"The furthest reaches of History starts here in Vacuo, nearly two millennia ago. And for the first thousand years of history only stories remain. Even massive feats of architecture have very little in the way actual history, most deciphered writings featuring the exaggerated exploits of heroes of old," A castle that looked as massive as one of the Capital Cities appeared from the black ink with a flick of the hand, "Carbon Dating tells us that sites found across the Globe are from the same period of time, roughly speaking, but that the oldest sites are on the Continent of Sanus."

"The stories are of course different across the World, but as this is the Hunter's Course we shall be speaking almost exclusively about the two things that are consistent across all records," Another flick of the wrist and the ink spread out into an indistinct blob as she looked about the room with a gentle smile, "Can anyone guess them?"

I followed her eyes around the class and found that I was the only who wasn't frantically trying to copy the information down, as well as examples as they had appeared around the room not connected to her words, and shrugged before raising a Hand. She nodded towards me, "Grimm and Hunters?" I offered.

"Yes, yes, indeed," She agreed with the statement before the four separate pictures formed behind her on the board, "It seems that each of the Creation myths of the Four Civilization Cities feature them heavily, with the constant that they were the last bastions of humanity under the threat of the Grimm."

"In Atlas, The spoke of a Great Ursa, named the Moon-Eater for its scale, that was the size of a small mountain that had forced them to build above its head on a mountain, as it never thought to look up," A stick figure representation wiggled about behind her, much to my amusement.

"In Mistral they spoke of the Master of the Seas that chased Fishermen across the Ocean away from the coasts of Vacuo, where they found plentiful food and land to live with," A wave of Ink spilled across the Top Left corner of the board, and I was mesmerized by the simplistic drawings that had come to life.

"In Vale the people hid in caves and in forests in an attempt to avoid the Ire of the Owner of the Skies of Sanus, A fearsome Drake Grimm known to Spawn Armies on a whim," The Bottom Right filled with the beating wings of a Batlike Creature, fantastical in representation as buildings burnt underneath it.

"And Finally in Vacuo they spoke of the Tyrant of The Sands, a being so fearsome that they could only attribute to it the towns and lives that it claimed in its ruthless and efficient method," The Frozen sands of Vacuo seemed to reach up and tear apart the thankfully simple rendition of man and many structures behind it. Mountains shook and the Water crashed against the Beach with no end.

"And they all end the same way," A wave of her Hand and a stick figure waving a stick with a large pointy hat appeared before the pictures of the Massive and dangerous Grimm stopped moving and the Figure left, "With some Old Man Appearing and freezing them in Time, telling the People to become strong enough to fight them or become their victims. This is the Birth of the Huntsman," She said as the Images swept away with her hand, "And that is what you will be learning here the next three years, the History of the Trade," And with that the Bell rang to signal the end of class and she bowed deeply at the waist before standing straight once more, "And that's our time. I look forward to teaching you all once more."

* * *

I ate at a decent clip, not giving those slackers in line the chance to interrupt my Meal as I had already made that mistake once. _Never again._

When I felt a hand on my shoulder I responded by downing the bowl of soup I was eating before looking over my shoulder, just in case. I found that there was a group of five young men with various states of Aggressive postures and stances standing behind me, but I recognized none of them and returned to my food before I asked them, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," said the one who had put his hand on my shoulder, "I think we need to have a talk about how things go on around here."

I turned around once more, still holding the Leg of some Bird in my hand to rip bites out of as I sized up what was about to happen. I noticed that they were all people who had been in my Classes, so they were in the same year and I assumed were going to try and emulate my previous experiences from my last school, where they formed a hierarchy either where I refused to be at the bottom of or where I was placed outside of it entirely in an effort to alienate me.

My eyes narrowed as I realized that there was no hesitation in them, no shaking hands nor anxious looks between them as they confronted me. It promised Teamwork, probably having worked together for most of the past decade at the school.

 **[Davis Nilah]**

 **[Level 27 Huntsman]**

 **[** _ **Nilah Heir**_ **]**

I saw that the one who had spoken was a much higher level than the rest, who were around my level to be fair, and that he commanded their obedience if not their respect. I also noted that they hadn't thought this through quite as well as Davis might think. I ripped the last piece of meat off of the bone and placed it back on the plate with my left arm, a distinctive clinking sound coming from the motion, but Davis didn't have the privilege of enhanced senses like I did.

 **[Listen]** told me volumes worth of information in a moment, no metal or hidden weights to shift against cloth meaning they were almost certainly unarmed, while I was _never_ unarmed.

I turned fully in my seat to regard the group of interlopers critically before shaking my head and replying, "And how's that, _boyo_?"

The young man, with teeth too straight and unnaturally bright and skin unblemished by the woes of Puberty, smirked at me as he leaned casually in place with his hands in his pockets as he made a show of looking confident, even though I was Applying **[Osteogenesis: Hardening]** across my entire skeletal structure before using **[Second Wind]** to regain the lost health. "For the Last seven years, there has been a pretty simple thing going on in our Grade," He held one hand above his head, "Anyone who plans on going into the Hunter's Course," He dropped it to hover in front of his face, "Those who are here for support positions," And then his hand fell until it was at his waistline and his smirk turned vicious and downright malevolent, "Anyone who actively associates with Cosma," his cadre of friends all laughed at what their undoubtedly horrible sense of humor decided passed for a good joke, "Any guesses where you're at right now?"

The Apathy on my face was the only thing keeping the burning desire to _**Protect. Avenge. Defend.**_ my newfound friend from reaching out and snapping the twig of a young man, but I could see the lack of reaction had ruffled his feathers, "I have a good guess," I answered him after A moment of mulling over and deciding against activating **[Project Bloodlust]** quite yet.

He smiled once more, a slimy and unkind thing to behold, "Don't worry, you didn't know the rules. I'm willing to give you a chance," He swept a hand towards his group of friends behind him, though my eyes noted that quite a few people were looking from their seats with looks of curiosity, as though they didn't quite know what to expect from the interaction. "You don't make any trouble, nor does she, or we have problems."

"Why her?" I asked as I felt the quickly slipping control I had over the **Red** that was beginning to descend over my vision and thoughts.

His smile finally dropped into a displeased frown, "Why Her? Because she is an absolute disgrace to the Course, to the idea of being a Huntsman. She can't do anything but lay out traps or pranks, has no respect for common decency, and couldn't help anyone if her life depended on it. She doesn't deserve to be a Huntsman, nor does anyone who tolerates her."

"You'd bar someone extremely competent, like Ashley or Emily or Shebul, because they tolerate someone you don't like?" The third layer of **[Hardening]** was applied and I could feel more than see that the switch from humoring his nastiness to coming to blows was now visible on my face, as his cronies seemed to suddenly remember that they were mortal and unarmed facing down someone they didn't know.

But it didn't stop Davis from sealing the deal for me with his arrogant mouth. "Shebul rides on his Semblance, everyone knows he'd be a middling Student without it. Emily is only here because her Family didn't want her around anymore, so they sent her off into the desert to disappear. And Ashley is a Momma's Girl, the Daughter of the Headmistress who wouldn't even be in the position without fucking her way in," For a moment, I sat there half-stunned that the skinny little prick had the balls to trash talk literally everyone I had been endeared to since I had arrived, which was long enough for him to make his sales pitch once more, "But, once again, you didn't know that, how could you. No, the truly deserving are us and the rest of the people that agree with me. So why don't you join the winning team."

 **[I've never disliked someone so thoroughly before. I'm honestly impressed underneath the Anger.]**

I stood to my full height, standing a few inches over him and let my **[Project Bloodlust]** wash over the group, and I saw them all flinch back as if it were a physical weight. I cracked my knuckles as every bone and muscle in my body screamed in protest that the **mouth** was still in one piece. I saw that the other students had figured out what was happening as the higher years, undoubtedly used to behavior like this, calmly grabbed their food and walked out of the Cafeteria. I also Heard someone that sounded suspiciously like Taylor Mumble "Oh no," but I ignored it in favor of my **prey**.

But Davis still stood confidently, the smirk in place as he waved a finger at me, "I wouldn't be too hasty there friend," I let out a growl that vibrated cutlery on nearby tables at _that_ , "I heard you already got a detention yesterday. Wouldn't want to get in trouble now would we?" I could now, after the few minutes of Talking to the little **ponce** , detect the difference between confidence natural and confidence faked.

My hand shot out to grab him by the front of his shirt, a move that wouldn't have worked if he had bothered to take a defensive and ready stance in his arrogance, before lifting him bodily off the ground in front of me, and I growled at him as my vision began to swim in fury, the forms no longer needing distinct details outside of shape and speed. "I think you banked on the fear of repercussions more than you should have," the words were spoken over the group of people now scrambling to grab anything that could be considered a weapon to fight, and Davis's eyes finally showed the understanding I wanted them to, "But you forgot one tiny little detail, _Pup._ This is a Combat School, and we're here to learn how to solve problems _violently_. I just happen to have a head start."

His Aura-coated arms came up to protect his face as my Mailed fist came crashing in with the force of a freight train, barely stopping the blow from pasting his scrawny ass but ripping the front of his shirt off in my hand. He bounced off of the floor as one of goons came in with a sturdy pole used like a Polearm, which would have worked better if it was actually pointy. As it stood, the end hit my **[Iron Skin]** and bounced off with each thrust, and I ignored him and the other three as I stomped towards the actual target of my rage.

I let out a Roar as I activated **[Panic]** and I smiled cruelly as Davis yelled up towards me from the ground.

* * *

"So," Ashley began once I had returned to the Room from Janette's office, "How bad was your punishment?" It seemed as though I had interrupted their conversation, so I shrugged as non-committedly as I could.

"I have to work around Campus to earn enough to pay for damages," I explained with a feral smile, "Worth it. Hell, It isn't even that much money, basically just that Window I threw him through at the end of it."

"Yeah, Totally," came the entirely lackluster reply from Cosma, who was much more subdued than I had ever seen her. She was on her bed with her legs pulled up to her chest, a move only possibly polite when in trousers I might add, as she stared at the floor. And after her small form was wracked by a sniffle, I noticed that she had been crying.

I finished taking off my shoes as I squinted in her direction before I finally couldn't deal with it anymore, "The Hell are you crying for Girlie?"

She let out an _eep_ and swiped at her wet eyes, "I'm not crying, Austin."

I grabbed a piece of paper and balled it up before throwing it at her, with it bouncing off of the side of her head. She yelped and grabbed her hat before looking at me with startled, but no longer crying, eyes. "You better not be, it'll ruin my good mood!" I said with a smile as I leaned back into my bed.

She blinked at me owlishly from her bed as her legs slowly unwound on their way to the floor beside her bed, "You're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad?" I asked her, not quite understanding the thought process. I looked at Ashley but she sighed and refused to explain it.

"Because," Cosma began as she looked around at the other two, " _Because_ it's my fault? You wouldn't be in trouble if it weren't for me!" She declared angrily, with a little bewilderment in her words. Roman simply smiled brightly behind his book at the byplay, probably having spent a while dealing with the girl.

"You make him call the Headmaster a Whore?" I asked incredulously, ignoring my partner's flabbergasted sputter of noise from my left, "Insult anyone?" At the lack of response I looked up to make eye contact with the resolute young woman.

"No," she said firmly, "But he wouldn't have said anything to you if you didn't know me."

"Its a small school, and with someone with a Telephone pole rammed up his ass and a silver spoon in his mouth he would have found something else to bother me with," I said dismissively, "And that's besides the point; I got to beat up an Asshole!" I said emphatically as I gesticulated around the room jerkily, " _Without getting detention!_ I've half a mind to throw a party," I mused as I slumped back into my bed.

Cosma gave me one last searching smile before she sighed a tired sigh and gave me an equally tired smile, "Well, thanks, I guess. For sticking up for me."

I waved my hand at her lazily, "No problem," I accepted the thanks, which was probably brought on by an hour of guilt after she saw Mr. G cart me off in a headlock, which I had to get him to teach me. The thing was _impossible_ to get out of if you were stronger than whoever you were holding, which sounded like my kind of technique.

"Well, it could have been a problem," Cosma said as she laid down in her bed and got comfy, "So thank you for not making one. Good night," She mumbled exhaustedly into her pillow as her shoulders sagged and breathing began to even out.

I smiled at the very adorable action and wondered how anyone could dislike her as much as some people though they did. I shook my head of the though and instead I focused on the single Screen that had popped the entire day, as I had spent quite a bit of time after History simply trying to comprehend what it was telling me to do.

* * *

 **Quest Received; Monsters of Old:**

 _ **Prove that you are the Ultimate Monster, Fight for the Throne.**_

 **-Search for and Deal with** _ **Leviathan.**_

 **-Search for and Deal with** _ **Moon-Eater.**_

 **-Search for and Deal with** _ **The Nundu.**_

 **-Search for and Deal with** _ **Zu.**_

 **Rewards; [?], and +20 Free points per Objective completed.**

* * *

 **[You can't blame this stupidity on me, it popped up without me doing a thing. Wherever this came from is beyond you or I.]**

* * *

 _Become the Ultimate Monster..?_ I scratched the side of my head before I closed the Notification for the night, _I guess it's always nice to have goals._

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

Roman Looked up over his Journal, taking in the much more relaxed form of his best friend and partner. She was slumped in relief and quickly on her way to falling asleep in her bed. Ashley got her toiletries together as she readied herself for her Shower, able to relax now that Cosma was recovering from the stress and Austin was not swimming in detentions. He himself had just begun to wind down, now that it was obvious the newcomer had not only sided with them over the _punks_ but had steadfastly refused to blame Cosma for it.

Such a large part of her issues, the insubordination and pranks and the emotional immaturity, came from a lack of acceptance and a need to not be a burden, something that Roman put the onus of blame on her father's strict upbringing. She isolated herself from people to make sure they wouldn't judge her too harshly, before she finally accepted them as trustworthy.

It was a process that he had undergone what felt like a lifetime ago, back when the test was whether or not someone would rat on her for some stupid prank she had pulled. He had refused to do so, as it would've taken quite a bit of effort on his part, and she had been ecstatic and declared him her friend from that point onward, whether or not he agreed with the ruling was irrelevant.

Roman closed his book with a final look towards Austin, deciding that whether or not he knew it, he had just secured his already solid position as Cosma's Friend, and Roman's as well. Anyone willing to go to bat over someone only insulting someone else, whether or not they were there to hear or even encourage the behavior, and according to Ashley's Story had been doing similar things for _years_ was someone worth keeping around.

Roman just hoped that Austin was as predictable in all things as he was in his Defense of friends, or he was never going to get any rest with two maniacs running around.

* * *

 _Interlude A (Continued)_

* * *

" _Did the Witch continue to try and make a smart Grimm?" came the question from the half-asleep girl._

 _Summer turned to regard the drained girl, as though thinking hard even though that was the entire point of the story, the very last bit. "There are some stories that make mention of it, but nothing too widespread. And those are stories for another night little one, Good night."_

 _The young blonde stubbornly tried to stay awake, even as her eyelids drooped and the covers seemed to call her, "But Mom, all stories have lessons, Daddy said so. What was the Lesson in yours?"_

 _Summer paused by the Doorway, "The Lesson to be learned is that no matter how badly things go, no matter how badly you lose or are punished there is always something good to come from it, whether it be a lesson to be learned, reward hidden inside a punishment, or even just a good story to entertain small children with when they don't want to sleep," She said teasingly, even as her charge fell into the Covers with a wide yawn, "Now,_ _ **Good night**_ _." she stated clearly as she closed the door behind her._

 _Yang listened as she walked away with a yawn before getting comfy for her next three hours of sleep in between feedings._

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 _To the reviewer who posted an actual issue without a way to respond, all of the names are translations of Colors in languages outside of English or colors hidden within a larger word._

 _Aus_ _ **tin "**_ _Staín" (Gaelic Word for Metal/Tin/Steel)_

 _ **Ash**_ _ley "Charbon" (French for Coal)_

 _Taylor_ _ **Chest**_ _erton as a play on Chestnut, because not everything is obvious_

 _Cosma Politan as a reference to the very pink girly drink_

 _Janette_ _ **Green**_ _burg, pretty obvious there_

 _And in further response to the Comment, The Hell kinda color is Oobleck? It's a reference to the Childish experiment to create slimy green goo, but it's not the name of a color. How about Ozpin, whose only connection to color is his basis upon his inspiring character's own fixation on Green. Glynda? Peter Port's is grey/pewter though his character design is overflowing with burgundy and more based on the a Type of Stone than a color. Qrow and Raven aren't true color names. How about Winter and Summer? James Ironwood, looking about sixty in huntsman years has a family name that sort of invokes Metal tones, unless you wanna argue that James is some color I hadn't heard of or couldn't find. No, as it turns out this only applies to a single generation of People_ _ **barely**_ _(neon is an element on the periodic table, not a color you cunts). Adam Taurus is red because he's a ginger, not his name._

 _ **Nora Valkyrie?!**_

 _Basically, the Color names are reserved for Students in the Academies during the Main story, and it is my belief that it is a naming fad that occurred after The parents of the Main Cast were born but before the main cast were born, allowing for the Characters that were born in between to also follow the Fad while the older a character is the less likely they are to be named after a Color. And seeing as the War came to a conclusion eighty years before the Main Story, I disagree that it is what caused the Naming Convention, as I will_ _ **not**_ _agree that Glynda is older than eighty, or most of the others beyond Ozpin._

 _Beyond that, Thank you to anyone who has shown interest in the story and read this far._

 _It simply makes me feel good that people like the story._

 _I'd also like to point out the New Cover of the Story, a Picture that will be updated when anyone with talent draws a better picture than I could._

 _Alright, Jericho out._


	15. Level 1: Part 6

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _My eyes were set on my target, and I felt none of the cold that the snow brought, none of the discomfort that lying in a bush for hours on end brought, and no emotion but the burning fury that had inhabited and fueled me for the last two days straight. Two days tracking and catching up to my prey without pause or rest, only stopping in my run to make sure I was still following them or to take a leak. I waited until I heard they had settled down for the night and the embers of the fire had gone down to move._

 _I removed my shoes, the crunching of the snow might alert those I hunted, and the Cold was weighleyed for later. The whistling of the wind through the trees covered the little bit of sound that I made, and the snow that was plastered to the front of my jacket made me that much less visible in the frozen forest. I moved as quietly as I could, glad that none of the men in the small tattered camp were Faunus as it would have made the task much harder, through the trees and bushes until I was behind the single Guard that had been assigned for the first shift._

 _I was happy to hear him snoring as I approached his back, and smiled as I hefted the bulky branch I had found on the outskirts of camp. Not trusting my ability to stay in cover I stepped out on his left and swung the branch like a Baseball Bat. The blow crushed his nose into his head and cracked the sides of his face in the dry cold air. He slumped down the tree he had been leaning against and I caught the rifle that fell from his hands before it reached the ground._

 _My fingers were numb from the cold but they quickly fell into position along the weapon as lessons from Nan came crashing into place in my mind. I held the Rifle aloft as I moved towards the Fire in the center of the camp, my eyes darting about in search of the Orange jumpsuits that would be sure to attract anyones attention. I reached down and grit my teeth as I grabbed one of the Logs that hadn't quite burned out and threw it at the nearest tent._

 _I waited with grim determination as sheets of the makeshift shelter were set alight, and hefted the gun as the frantic cries and scrabbling hands appeared at the Zipper of the thing. Without hesitation I put three bursts into the shapes I could see, at least two people in the burning tent, and set my face when they fell. I turned to the other structure in time to see someone running at me. I fell to a knee and squeezed the trigger, leaning into the recoil of the very large gun, and hit the large man square in the chest and saw him fall to the ground as his orange jumpsuit quickly turned red._

 _I let out the breath I had taken and stood, never pointing the barrel anywhere other than the man groaning on the ground and made my way towards his prone form. With the steaming barrel of the gun I turned him over and I wasn't surprised to see the confusion on his face._

" _You're just a kid!" he yelled hysterically as he tried to push himself to his feet, but I kicked him in the jaw with as much strength as my eleven year old frame could muster._

" _This kid has a question for you," the fury I felt warping my voice into something foreign, a sound I hadn't heard in at least three years, "When you and your friends were driving that Stolen Van out of the Gates, do you remember anything important?"_

 _His face, now slack in terror as he stared up at me and I assume realized just what had happened to his cohorts, "All I remember is some old lady-" I turned the gun in my hands around to break his nose with the stock of the gun. His head cracked off the hard ground and the blood that he tried to stop froze on his hands, but his eyes were still afraid._

" _You ran over Nan," I informed him simply, not expecting him to know who I was talking about or why it would matter, "And you nearly killed her." That would be all I said on the matter, and I ended the conversation with the swing of the rifle like an axe chopping wood. His hands fell to the side of his head and I bared my teeth at how little resistance he and the others had given me. I spit into the snow next to his split head, disgusted at what the world had brought out of me, but without a shred of doubt that I wouldn't do it again._

 _People so easily taken from the world may have injured and nearly killed someone I cared for, but_ _ **like hell I wasn't going to pay them back for it**_ _._

 _With that done I turned my panting carcass around and began my journey back to the Mount, dropping the Rifle in the snow behind me to be forgotten just like the rest of the trash in the clearing._

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

Days passed by quickly, my days filled with controlled violence, Mr. G's Detention/workouts, and becoming a verified School Custodian to pay for the numerous expenses that I continued to rack up with my bouts of _not-so-controlled_ violence. I learned a few things that I found interesting and exponentially more that I found boring and uninteresting, which both I and Fenrir refused to stay awake for during class. The unfortunate part of existence was that Ashley refused to accept anything less than _her_ best effort from everyone on the team on the issue, meaning that after a week I had caved and started studying.

Even if they had to drag me kicking and screaming to the Library each time.

Life moved on, lessons were learned and I made friends with the rest of the Maintenance and Janitorial Staff. My mentor of sorts was a Man by the name of Keith, a small man with thin limbs and spindly fingers that seemed to have been made to handle delicate things and repair the irreparable and a face that had seen many years in the sun. He had a mop of brown hair and equally brown eyes, both of which were covered by an oil stained hat or the smoke from the cigarette he was never seen without.

He had an odd sense of humor that I was surprised to find that none of my friends quite understood, and told stories upon stories of the things he built or fixed in his day and the other repairmen or fabricators he could remember along the way. The man taught me his favorite fifty-four uses of Duct tape in the weeks that I was assigned to him, weeks that I felt were going to turn into months and possibly years. The man was a wizard with a tool, and he showed me the tricks he had gained through years of hard work with an ease that left me envious.

The unfortunate thing I had found was that I'd have to remember them without the help of my usual helper.

* * *

 **[Craft] Stat requirements; 10 Int and 15 Wis.**

* * *

So everything I did at first was unaided and clumsy and usually had to be redone, but Keith made it a point to explain the shortcuts and easiest way to do any job I failed, and his quirky and odd presence filled the days with a consistency that was lacking with my peers and teammates.

Some days they were at each other's necks, and the next they were perfectly happy being buddy buddy with each other. I had no idea what determined the switches in behavior in my friends, but I weathered the storm with the more stable members of our ragtag group, which basically meant the guys and Emily unless Ashley provoked her, with admirable stoicism.

I had the job to prevent anything or anybody from getting damaged by Cosma's excitable flurries of activity where items often were launched, Roman basically kept watch on the Body language of the three excitable figures and notified the rest of us if anything was about to explode (figuratively or literally with Cosma's use of explosives), Emily was the designated distractor, and Shebul was the Trump Card if anything ran off the rails ready to pounce with a localized use of his Semblance.

Thankfully it hadn't come to that yet.

Outside of the their continued arguments and Taylor's inability to not be swept up into them, our two teams worked very well with each other and made it a point to stay near whenever possible. Ashley had tried to spin some crock about team cohesion to me, but Taylor had explained quite clearly that they had come together during one of my many work days and concluded that if they presented a united front Davis and his cronies were less likely to start trouble.

I had let it go easily, as while I quite enjoyed beating his face in, thinking about the black and blue look he sported for most of a day still tickled me pink, I had more important things to do than deal with him at every turn of a corridor.

Also, I had picked up another level in **[Sign Language]** from Cosma's Teachings, who was very enthusiastic that I wanted to learn the skill. It didn't hurt that I was picking it up quickly either.

Either way the Month wound down as Classes began to brace for the End of Period Tests came down the shoot, and the level of activity began to lower around campus as people had to spend more of their time studying. Finally the day came, the Day of Tests, and with it the promise of new adventure that came with the following month.

* * *

I grumbled as I walked out of the Lecture Hall, and I took a moment to read the notifications that popped as I crossed the threshold.

* * *

 **Quest Completed; [Testing 1, 2, 3]!**

 _ **Knowledge is power, so become powerful!**_

 **-Finish your Monthly Exams for the first time.**

 **Bonus Objective Completed; Don't Fail any exams!**

 **Rewards; +500 Exp, +2 Free Points per Exam Passed, +2 for passing all.**

* * *

 **Level up + 1!**

* * *

 **Achievement unlocked; [New Sights]!**

 _ **Shoot for the stars! If you miss you'll probably end up among the dead and cold reaches of space!**_

 **You have ascended the Level you obtained before the Game started, and can now aim for loftier goals!**

 **Now take this starting Package and achieve new heights!**

 **Rewards; +5% Hp and Stm, +10% Hp and Stm regen, +5% Atk, +2 Free Points.**

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])**

 **Lvl 18: 120/1800 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 30618/30618 HP Regen: 144 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1488/1488, Stm Regen: 56 Stm/Sec**

 **Str: (105) 110**

 **Dex: 34**

 **Con: (135) 142**

 **Agi: 8**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 73**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 683**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 15939**

 **Pistol Atk: 257**

 **Def: Phys; 76%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent.**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Enduring];** _**I can still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut]; For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

* * *

I grunted in appreciation of the new Stats, glad to have finally finished the only _reasonable_ **Quest** I had received during the Month and also to see that I hadn't failed any Exams. I discarded the useless thoughts about how the Game could know that and simply accepted it as fact, much as I had for the past few months as it had yet to be wrong, and thought more on the achievement. Specifically the implication that I was at least level Seventeen before I woke up to the Game, which struck me as incredible. I couldn't even begin to fathom what my stats must have looked like, and I shrugged as I thought of the only thing I had ever thought of myself as; Not Strong, not Invincible, not Almighty, I was simply **Determined**.

Deciding that if it wasn't in my **Note** section then I wasn't going to figure it out anytime soon I'd focus on the present and closed the screens with a thought. I raised my right arm in front of my face to block out the whirling sand and continued out into the not so clear air of a small dust storm, simply glad to be done with the battery of Exams that the morning had consisted of.

I also took no pleasure in being one of the last to finish, as Fenrir had disabled access to the **[Notes]** Section for the Exams, as he thought it wouldn't be fair.

 _That scruffy Traitor_.

"Rough Morning?" came a cultured voice from right next to my ear, and I jolted away from it with a startled yelp and a defensive stance. I relaxed upon seeing Emily looking all too pleased with herself and Shebul yawning into his fist.

I scowled at her expression, but refused to sink to her level. "Somethin' Like that," I agreed with a growl before turning back towards the Dorms, "The mornin' was fine, but then I ran into these two pains in the ass."

"You should get that checked out," She cheekily replied, the euphoria of not having Exams looming over her head obviously improving her mood. It didn't help that she had been obsessing over the things for the past two weeks, and was most likely over preparing for every single test just to stress herself out.

I had a working theory that her Semblance converted Stress to Damage, but it was still in development.

"You ready for the Trip tonight?" Shebul asked in between yawns, his posture making it obvious that he was nowhere near ready for the planned Hike to the Rendezvous Point with our guides for the next month. I looked over his form and was relieved to find that his drowsiness was a waking one and not of the falling asleep variety.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I answered after a moment's thought. I had all of my necessary equipment on me at all times, and had already packed a smaller bag with amenities that would make life easier. My eyes shot to the third member of our group as I opened the door for them, "How about you guys?" I asked, remembering the distinct mountains of clothing and understanding just what Emily's partner might be dealing with.

"I'm squared away," he answered with a nod as he walked through the opened door behind his partner.

I raised an eyebrow and nodded at her back to which he sighed and shook his head in return.

"Well," I began uncertainly, "If you need any help just ask. We do have the same Rendezvous point, after all."

Emily turned her head as we walked to the Lounge on our Floor, where we had spent quite a bit of our collective downtime in the past month, "How would you know that? We haven't even got our instruction packets yet," she half questioned and half demanded.

I blinked at her as we entered the room before slumping over the nearest empty couch, "I asked the Headmaster where we were going?" I responded incredulously. At her raised eyebrow I growled at her, "Did you expect me to sit around and wait for papers when I could get the information straight from the tap?"

"Yes!" she cried as she sat down with much more poise than myself, daintily crossing her legs in front of her and sitting with such forced posture that it made me feel uncomfortable for her, "I expected you to do what everyone else had to do and wait for our instructions, not cheat and get it early!"

"Cheat..?" I muttered to myself before looking over at Shebul, who had posted up at a nearby table with an apathetic look on his face that signalled that he wasn't in the mood to talk, "It ain't Cheatin'! You coulda done it yourself, and it ain't against the rules to ask the headmaster a question," I grumbled, certain only because I had been assigned more detentions for pointless rules here than I had in my entire career at the Mount Glenn Academy.

She gave me a sour look that said she didn't like it but couldn't argue the point, and then I heard the Door to my room open and the footsteps and voices of my team approaching my location.

Cosma skipped around the corner with a large smile across her face and her satchel full of timers and frames for devices of untold explosive yields. "Let's get moving, slowpokes!" she called as she twirled into the room with a grace that belied her very destructive style of fighting, before the rest of my team entered the space as well, each of them wearing their traveling clothes and carrying a bag of some kind.

Emily shook her head at her antics but stood nonetheless, "Alright, I'll grab my traveling bag," she announced before _click-clacking_ her way back to her room.

"Grab the rest of your team, Donlevy!" I called after her before shifting my focus to Ashley, "You got the instructions yet?"

She pulled a manilla folder out from one of the pockets of her bag before she slung it back over her shoulder and waved it at me. "Yes indeed. It looks like we're making our way to the Village of _Garha Baeli_ ," she said with a look to Shebul, who nodded in confirmation of the pronunciation, before continuing with a flip of her ponytail over her shoulder, "To meet with our Guides with Team TESL. From there we'll be splitting up and relieving the local militia or Huntsmen with smaller tasks or helping with emergencies."

"Beautiful," I said as I stretched out a small crick in my neck and stood, "Finally getting some action. I was goin' crazy without something to beat on without holdin' back." As a group we walked down the hall to meet up with the last three members of our expedition as we passed their room. Immediately Taylor fell in beside me with only a casual fistbump while Emily shouldered a bag that looked to be carrying a ton of bricks, if the way the straps struggled to contain its contents was any indicator.

My eyes met those of the Leader of Team TESL, or Tesla, and gave him a respectful nod. He hesitated for a moment before he returned it and started a conversation with Emily. My eyes sought out his Nametag, and once again found myself wondering what it could mean.

 **[Luca Portatore]**

 **[Level 31 Light Bringer]**

 **[** _ **Shining Example**_ **]**

He was the single highest Level Student in our year, by a sizable margin of three levels, and was quickly closing in on the level of an average Huntsman. Sandy Blonde Hair, Bright blue eyes, and a well built physique. He was polite, nothing but kind, and Taylor had nothing bad to say about her Partner.

Other than the small complication of him not exactly enjoying my presence.

Taylor said that when she met him he had been all smiles and had listened to her _entirely fake_ story intently before exchanging polite conversation with her and Emily. He had clammed up when they brought up Me in the conversation, and it continued to happen consistently.

Now, to be completely honest, I wasn't surprised or even worried about the situation. As far as I was concerned my six new friends were gifts from the gods sent to deal with my stupidity and ridiculous situation and I wasn't about to throw a tantrum when I didn't get seven for seven. It even spoke to his superior judgement, being able to decide against associating with me spoke only of good taste.

What I was slightly more concerned with was the fact that Taylor seemed to be siding with me over her Partner. I had told her to think it through, but it seemed her mind was made up and the goal was to disrupt her team environment until Luca cracked. Unfortunately Cosma had overheard the conversation and had brought it upon herself to help Taylor in her endeavor.

I shook myself from my thought to examine the notification that appeared in front of me.

* * *

 **Quest Received; [A Good Run]!**

 _ **"Cry 'Havoc!,' and let slip the dogs of war!"**_

 **Having survived the First Month of School you are now released upon the world with the vague direction of "Help". Get to it!**

 **-Meet up with your Guide!**

 **Rewards; +2 Free Points for Every Quest completed between now and the end of the month and a 1000 Exp.**

* * *

"Anyone know where we're going?" Luca asked the group as we stepped outside into the evening air. He pulled out his package of papers and flapped it around, "The Instruction just gave me a bearing to go on and I don't have a Compass and map to use."

My eyes shot to my Map and found the familiar line once more in place to direct me where I needed to go. I noticed Taylor quirk an eyebrow in my direction when everyone else began to look through their packs, so I sighed "Yeah, I know where we're going," I pointed in the direction that my Minimap was telling me to go.

"And how do you know that?" Luca asked as he crossed his arms and gave me a disbelieving look.

I scoffed, "Because unlike the rest of you, I do my homework," I ignored the pointed looks my Team was giving my back, "I asked Mrs. Newman where we were going and then looked it up in the Library Yesterday," Which was true, though I had more help from Miss Mourie than I felt needed to be mentioned. I would never understand the stupid system that she had organizing the place.

Luca accepted the answer with a weary nod, "Alright Boy Scout, Lead away," then his head quirked to the side and a look of confusion appeared on his face before he looked to Taylor, "Why didn't we ask a teacher about where we were going?" When his team looked between themselves before shrugging back in response he sighed, "Alright, let's make sure we do this next time. We won't always have Austin to pick up the slack."

I snorted at the thought of me being the most prepared for this, before I remembered that this was most of their first times going off on a trip like this and decided to chip my two cents in, "Yeah, you're also gonna want to do this the course of the month. Clarifying details, catching something a civilian wouldn't know is important, or anything else can just a simple question away," I explained as I walked through hard sand away from the campus, "And make sure you tell me if you need to stop so you don't get lost."

Taylor began to stretch out behind me and snorted, "Because he won't be stopping. He'd make this trip in one go if we weren't here," She turned to the rest of the group, whose faces now told me that they were suddenly realizing that they were out of their depth.

A Spar they were fine, a test they could ace, detentions they could serve. But here? Where we were headed? That was mine and Taylor's territory, and they suddenly seemed to realize it as they watch us prepare for the Trek.

"It's about 96 miles away," Luca came in with once more, looking the least unfamiliar with what we were doing as he shook out his neck and tightened the straps on his bag, "Theoretically we should be able to make it there by nightfall with a few stops along the way if we keep a steady pace. Any questions?" When No one said anything he nodded to me and I smirked in response.

I started off with a run that was sluggish, waiting for the much faster people to catch up to me before activating **[Power Jump]** on my next step with five points of Stamina. The result was a small cloud of Sand erupting around me as I was sent fifteen feet ahead, where I landed with the same explosion and launch. I liked to think of the mode of Transport as Running with a really long Stride.

I noticed the familiar Yellow blur buzz past me and turned to see the Speedy forms of our Teammates steadily catching up to us in blurs of their own Aura. Their forms were much more sporadic than Taylor's was, with bursts of their aura coating them and accelerating their pace for a few seconds as opposed to her constant cloak of Aura.

"Can't I just buy a Bullhead?!" Emily cried as she began to fall behind under the weight of her Bag.

My only response was to laugh and pick up the pace.

* * *

Hours later I landed on the outskirts of the town of Garha Baeli, a small but active town with a wooden wall that stood about thirty feet in height that surrounded the entire settlement. There were clearings that had been cleared around Area and obviously acted as Farms during the Warmer months. The Broad trees stood tall but barren in the Winter Air and outlined the defined area that the Town frequented, with Paths simply beaten into the dirt and between scything limbs of trees just big enough to fit a single vehicle at a time. Peering over the sizable walled Town was a Metal Tower that reached into the sky almost three times as high as the Wall itself with a large red beacon on the top as well as a dish the size of a House.

"Could you let me down now?" asked the tired Girl hanging limply in my grip.

I grunted my assent before dropping Emily, smiling briefly as she landed with a muted _thump_ on the ground. As she stood slowly on shaky feet and a glare on her face I unslung her backpack and held it out to her, which she snatched with away from me with a fervor. "What's with the attitude?" I asked as we waited for our quickly approaching Teammates.

She blinked before fury came over her face, "You carried me like a sack of Potatoes for half an hour!" She snarled at me in a rather undignified way.

"Bah," I waved a hand in between us as if it waved away the issue, "You said you weren't going to walk let alone run the rest of the way. So I took it upon myself to do the Traveling for you," I explained easily as I scratched my cheek.

"I was _exaggerating_!" She yelled at me, her cheeks red in her indignation. She huffed and said something that I assumed was an insult under her breath, but I ignored her instead to watch as Taylor appeared from the Treeline a few feet away. She calmly walked over as colorful flashes of Aura erupted in the Brush behind her.

"I see we made it," She said simply as the rest of the group walked out of the Forest and into the Clearing. They looked haggard from the trip and I looked over with concern, as I hadn't thought the pace too grueling, and we had even stopped half a dozen times to let them catch their breath. "It was Cosma's First Time fighting Grimm," My eyes widened as I looked at Taylor disbelievingly, before I swiveled to look at where Cosma had appeared. She was looking out of it, but Roman seemed to have a handle on things so I let it go.

"Well at least it wasn't anything bad," I said in my best approximation of Reassuring.

"That wasn't Bad?" Emily interjected, now looking much more in control of herself, "There were three Ursa and a Nevermore the Size of a shed?!" I looked at Taylor, who was smiling and shaking her head, before slowly nodding at her to show that it was indeed not that bad.

Taylor and I had been attacked by groups of Grimm like that almost everyday.

Emily gave me a look of despair and stalked over to meet the rest of the group. Luca and Ashley appeared at my shoulders as we walked towards the Gate of the Town, thankfully still open even at this time of night, "Any Idea where we're gonna find the Huntsmen Tonight? It's kind of late, so I don't think we'll be leaving here until the morning. We could just get Rooms and post up for the night and find them in the morning," Ashley asked while Luca stayed silent.

I smirked at the stupid question, because for anyone who had spent any amount of time around Huntsmen knew the answer. It didn't help that I had a blinking Line to follow to them. "I got a pretty good guess, yeah," I answered as we crossed the threshold to the town proper. Along the Street there were a few people loading things into trucks and walking down the dirt path. I walked up to the Truck and rapped on the side.

One of the men, a grizzled man with a full beard with grey streaks appearing in it at random and dark piercing eyes under a sun bleached red hat, stopped long enough to look over at me and bark out, "Can I help you?" before moving to pick up a rather large package by his lonesome while the others worked around him in silence.

In response I walked over to the other side and lifted it into the air with ease and placing it in the Truck by myself before dusting my hands off and turning to the blinking man with a lopsided smile, "Where do ya go to get a drink around here?" I asked the man who had finally gotten over himself. Luca, Taylor, and Ashley all stood to the side with a perplexed look their faces.

Then a twitch of his beard told me he was smiling as he looked over at them and then back to me. "Well, me and the Boys were headin' down there after we finished up," he nodded to the two dozen or so boxes, all just as large as the one I had just moved, that were sitting on the Loading Bay of the Warehouse they were parked in front of, "You help us move 'em, and I'll show you myself."

"Austin-" Ashley began but I ignored her to move by the man with a smile and Laugh.

"Deal, Old Man," I replied glibly before nodding them over with me.

* * *

"First Drinks on Me!" The old man, whose name was Dustin but refused to call anything but Dusty, exclaimed with enthusiasm as we made our way into the Bar and Inn. Him and the two other Workers looked exuberant to have been helped with their burdens, as apparently they all had earned three hours of overtime for fifteen minutes of _our_ Labor. The packages had been moved posthaste after all seven of us put our backs into it. "Charlene! Hit me with the usual!" He Hollered to the woman behind the Bar, who simply rolled her eyes at his Energy.

"Dustin," She returned much more calmly. She was an attractive Lady that had the signs of her years on her face, who stood behind the Counter with an ease that spoke of many years on the Job, "You're awfully Happy tonight. Something happen?" she asked subtly as her eyes roved over us Students.

"You better believe it," He said as he sat down, "These Yung'ins just saved me and Mine two and a half hours of work. Imma sleep good tonight, and the little things count." He told me with a nod, and I nodded seriously.

"Of course," she said with a huff of a laugh as she moved around to pour him a glass of Whiskey, "Only time you're Happy is when you're drunk or makin money."

"And now I get to do both!" He declared cheerfully as he took of his hat to reveal a balding scalp under it.

"Evening Ma'am," I began, as the much more able to talk members of our group were still uncomfortably milling around the door or off searching for the Huntsmen themselves. Charlene smiled at me, "Me and my friends are here lookin for two Huntsmen that came in recently, Have you seen anything?"

She nodded her head towards a Table in the Back with a smile, "The Only Huntsmen to swing by here in the last two days are both sitting in the back. I assume you and your friends are the Teams they booked the Rooms this morning for?"

I chuckled before I moved towards the table, "I'll let you know." There were a few groups of patrons scattered about the establishment that I weaved through, but it was early enough in the night that they weren't belligerent. I came upon the Table in the Corner that seated two quiet individuals dressed in more exotic clothing than the drab and dull colors of the other customers. One was dressed in a Burgundy Longcoat that stopped just above the floor from his seated position with a Silver Breastplate under it. On the table in between two tankards was the sheathed form of a set of dual axes.

 **[Raul Newman]**

 **[Level 63 True Huntsman]**

 **[** _ **Undertow**_ **]**

"Mr. Newman," I called as I walked towards their table. He looked up from the small book he had been marking in with a pencil and looked over towards me. He had short brown Hair and a well groomed Goatee, as well as Tan skin and striking blue eyes. He closed his book and nodded to his companion as he stood and attached his Weapons to his Belt loops. "The rest of the Teams are waiting outside," I explained when I saw looking about the quite worn out bar and his expression softened upon the news.

"Good, Good," He declared as he moved by me with only a clap on the shoulder, "Come, we'll set you guys up for the night."

"Fuckin' A," I answered, smirking in victory at having been the one to find the Huntsmen to begin with. I ignored the annoyed look he shot me as we walked and sent a look towards the other huntsman at my side.

 **[Hazel Rainart]**

 **[Level 57 Protector]**

 **[** _ **Blood for Blood**_ **]**

I blinked at the Nametag, before I locked eyes with the man that it belonged to, and found that the man I had tried to teach how to use a computer so long ago was now standing in front of me, giving me the same startled look I was sure I was giving him. And the weird part was- "You ain't aged a day!" I crowed. He was still a behemoth of a man with a well kept lumberjack sized beard with arms that looked ready to bend steel at a moments notice.

He smiled and shook his head, "Neither have you."

"Dust Accident," I replied quickly, to which he sent me an odd look, "The truth is stranger than Fiction," I told him sagely and he snorted at the words.

* * *

"So this is Team… Accra?" Mr. Newman Asked hesitantly, "Your team is named after a pile of Rocks in the middle of the Frozen Sands?" He rocked forward in his wooden chair to give a weird look.

Cosma blew a raspberry at him in retaliation, "You try and think of a better name with A, C, R, and A in it!" she huffed and leaned back on the Bed while Ashley shook her head.

Roman looked up from his Notebook long enough to explain the behavior, "The Headmaster assigned us to find a good name for our team. It took a few days of researching in the library to find something even close," he sighed as he thought back on the drain of his time, "Cosma found it and turned it in with the reasoning that the old fortress was a singular color; Sandstone," Roman pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "The headmaster was pleased."

"I bet she was," Raul grumbled as he dragged a hand down his face, "Whatever. I'm assigned to be your Supervisor for the next month, so I need to know what you can do, what you specialize in individually so I know what Missions I should clear you for," He waved at Ashley, "Of course I know you already, so let's start with you pinkie." He took out a lighter and a box of cigarettes as he waited for a response.

Cosma sat back up and pointed a finger at herself, and at his nod she grabbed her bag and pulled it into her lap before drawing out her Weapon, a Slender Wakizashi that mechashifted into a Single-Barrelled shotgun with A bayonet on the top and bottom of the Barrel. The trick came from the Red Dust rounds that it fired, and the resulting explosions that they caused sending enemies away or incinerating them entirely as they had with the Ursa earlier. "I specialize in everything explosives, breaching, planting, or even disarming. It's kind of a hobby I've had for a few years, and now its a field of study. In combat, I try to stay at mid-range and win by bleeding my enemies dry."

Roman cleared his throat and pulled out a canister that looked closer to Thermos than anything else before he hit a single button and it telescoped out into a staff with a Hook at the end of it. "It's a work in progress, but so far it has gotten me out of a lot of trouble. It works best in close quarters, and my fighting style relies a lot on sleight of hand for rolling with punches and Fencing footwork. My Aura control is pretty good and I can do quite a few tricks with it," He scratched the back of his head as he looked down at the book in his hands, "For what it's worth, I'm more comfortable planning than anything else."

"Soundin' real combat heavy," He said with a growing smile, "My specialty. No search and rescue, no protection duty, just a month of search and destroy," then he looked in my direction where I was busy trying not to fall asleep, "What can he do?"

I heard a cough come from my partner as well as Cosma and Roman making odd noises like they were struggling with the answer. Finally Ashley stopped coughing and made to talk. "Austin basically hits things. Really hard," I snorted at the description but made no move to correct her, "He's a brawler, and he and another person says he has regrown a limb in under a minute. Small Arms fire doesn't break his skin without the use of Aura, and has a habit of _exploding_ when doesn't know what else to do. Literally," She added when he raised an eyebrow at her, "And Finally he can throw a Pebble with enough force to puncture A foot of Concrete." I found it odd that she was Lowballing my abilities to the man, but she was my leader and I couldn't give a fuck about whether or not he knew exactly how strong I was.

"Right," He said after a few seconds of thought, "Search and Destroy it is. We're going to be spending the Next month taking missions from Outposts like the one in this Village to find and deal with Difficult Grimm that are giving the locals problems. I'm here to make sure you don't die and to give advice on how to handle situations as well as monitor your progress," He stood form his Chair and moved to the door, "I expect you up by 0700, and ready to move by 0730. We'll be heading over to the Outpost in the morning to pick up a mission and I want to beat Hazel and the other younglings to the good ones."

"Yessir!" We chorused and he waved a farewell over his shoulder as he left. For a moment I tried to stay awake and I heard Cosma speak slowly, "Well, He seemed nice?" I laughed and rolled over on the couch and fell into the dark embrace of slumber.

* * *

It was through force of will alone that I tore my eyes from the Corkboard filled to the brim with pins holding Reports sorted by location, and the Notifications that were popping up left and right. Mr. Newman grabbed one and removed the pin to leaf through the half a dozen reports before he nodded and walked over to the desk. The Older man at the desk smiled and Stamped the License that he produced, and simultaneously a notification popped up in front of my eyes.

* * *

 **Quest Received; [Birds of a Feather]!**

 **-Hunt the Griffons Harassing the Trade Route Near Slurry!**

 **Rewards; +800 exp, +1 Free point per 5 enemies killed in the Zone.**

* * *

He turned towards where we stood by the entrance, and flapped the Papers in our direction. He walked by and pushed through the doors, exclaiming "Time to Hunt!" as he walked by, to the eyeroll of his Step-daughter. Everyone filed out behind him, but I stayed behind to whine about the Thousands of Exp that was pinned to that cork board before following.

The door opened back up and Cosma stuck her head back in, distracting me enough to tear my eyes of the Board, "Austin! You think you can do an encore of our navigating trick? Ya know, where you find someone who knows exactly what we need to know? Mr. Newman doesn't quite know where Slurry is."

I gave her my best deadpan, under which she looked unaffected, and checked to make sure my Minimap was indeed pointing towards a point on the map to the West before I sighed and moved past her, "Let's see what I can do."

With every step I took a little bit of my annoyance with the Corkboard slipped away to be replaced with the joy that came from helping, _protecting_ , people. We walked along, with Mr. Newman telling the story of how he first met Ashley while Roman and Cosma tried their hardest not to laugh in the Girl's increasingly red face, and I saw the nods of recognition I was receiving not only from those that recognized us as Hunters but also those that had been in the Bar with Dusty last night.

The fact that I had already made a difference a mere day after leaving the Campus filled my heart with joy, and I stepped towards one of those that nodded in my direction; An older woman sweeping off the front porch a small shop. "Mornin' miss, Would you happen to know where Slurry is?" She smiled at me and continued sweeping while she talked, happy just that someone had politely topped and talked to her.

"Take the Road South out of town," She pointed with the Handle of her broom down the street towards the Outpost we had just exited, "Follow the road and you should be there in at least two days." I nodded politely and thanked her for her cooperation, to which she colored a bit, "Ain't a problem, Dear. I'm Happy to help." I smiled and moved back to my Group, who had stopped walking while I had been talking, never stopping the story Mr. Newman was telling.

He finished and while Roman and Cosma Laughed he looked at me, and I pointed towards the south exit. "Alright," He declared with a clap of his hands, "Looks like we got a heading. Time to get a huntin'."

I agreed and eagerly followed after him in his comparatively slow pace than I had set yesterday. I felt energy seep into my body as I thought about what the next month had in store and smiled my broken and ferocious smile.

This _is_ what I was Built to do, after all.

* * *

 _Fucking Finally, The Austin is released into his natural habitat and we can return to the Action as opposed to the Character development necessary for Students in tightly bunched quarters. Next Chapter we can expect a healthy dose of Explosive Violence and things going wrong._

 _Thankfully this bit of the story drastically reduces the number of moving parts I have to plan and Write, which is a welcome change for me. We are also clear to get into the actual plans that I have figured out, as opposed to rather wordy blocks of Dialogue and exposition heavy Story, which means actual progression. A good rule of thumb for Gamer Stories, all of them not just mine, is that you can tell how fast the character is actually developing emotionally and personality wise by how quickly he is levelling up._

 _Experience dumps like multiple levels at once usually come about near or after Traumatizing or immense breakthroughs on the Character's part._

 _Music Reveals for a few Characters;_

 _Taylor; "Gospel of the Throttle" by Minutes to Midnight_

 _Ashley; "Killer Queen" by Queen_

 _Luca, "Fallen Angels" by Ra_

 _As always, review if you have anything to say, and I'll try to answer any questions in either the next Author's Note or in a PM._

 _Alright, Jericho Out._


	16. Level 1: Part 7

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _The night sky shown through the Open Wall, the night air blowing through the room off of the Frozen sands. The Room was pitch-black save for two small candles flanking the singular fixture of the room; an ornate Golden throne that sat atop a set of stairs. A red carpet with Golden designs woven into it led down the stairs to the Double Doors that marked the Entrance to the Throne Room, and the low flickering orange light reflected off of the highlights in the dark._

 _The Flames also made the Carvings and paintings that covered the every square inch of the Walls of the room jump and shake, as though the people and stories they told of were alive and kicking once more, ready to relive their tales again. A rustling sound broke the stillness of the room as fabric shifted in the wind._

" _Hmmm," croaked the Figure that sat upon the Throne with his back to the frozen winds of the night, before he sucked in a breath of the air. He moved a gnarled hand from within his mass of robes to grab the Staff that had been leaning against the Dias. He straightened in his seat, the sounds of his protesting bones and joints echoing in the silent chamber as he readied himself._

 _A moment passed in silence before the soft but steadily growing sound of footsteps approached the door before the massive stone slabs were pushed into the chamber. On each door were two of his peons, ready and willing to follow the orders of their superiors. They may have discarded their former uniforms, but they still held the same dedication as they had as Peaceful protestors and activists in their new positions as Honor Guard._

 _But now instead of Pickets Signs they carried Rifles and Swords, with bright golden armor that reflected the low light of the Stone Building just as well as the Rug and the Etchings along the walls._

 _In between the Honor Guard stood a retinue of Four people, all armed and armored in resplendent and fantastically designed garb, the ensembles resembling the men and women in the Carvings of the walls but with much more emphasis on practicality than the exaggerations they were based on. Skirts and Tunics had to be traded for Pants and Kevlar if they wished to survive and thrive, after all._

 _The procession of four walked steadily down the long Chamber until they were ten feet from the Bottom of the Steps where they fell to one knee in a gesture of Fealty. The Doors closed again with a resounding Baaahn as they slid across the floor and the final Click as the heavily reinforced doors fell into place in their grooves in the floor._

 _There was a moment as the sounds stopped reverberating that the none of them moved, before the matching gnarled hand moved from where it had been lying upon the figure's lap and waved to them, and the broken and low voice intoned, "Rise, My children." Only once they had all stood to attention and gazed up at him did he continue, "It seems as though the Training has served you Four well, Young ones. The souls seem as though they are fit to burn straight out of your chests," he complimented the young warriors in earnest with a broken chuckle._

" _Thank you, Master," Came the response from the Young man who stood the closest to the Dias, "We have put our all into improving, just as you commanded."_

" _Good, Good. If I had but the strength to do so, I would join you in it," He said before his spindly limbs snaked out and he twisted them in a showing of his gnarled and emaciated hands, "But as you can see that is not possible."_

" _And we do not begrudge you of it, Master," His Charge returned, "You have given more than enough for this fight. Allow us to do the same!" The fervor in his voice slowly rising along with his volume. He thumped a fist on his breastplate, "We have wanted this for as long as we can remember! Let us be your limbs when you can't move them, let us Help, Master."_

 _There was a silence, as the young man pleaded with his body language and eyes over his words, and the Black hole that might as well have resided in the swirl of Robes sat upon the Throne weathered it stoically. Finally, the craggy voice was raised once more, "You think yourselves ready then?"_

 _Without hesitation the young man answered, not even sparing a look back at the faces of his compatriots, "Of course we are! I have been training ever since I understood how poorly those traitors we called Leaders understood what they needed to do." There was resentment and bitterness in his voice, and he spat the word Leaders like a curse, "And then when you raised your solution, the only solution, they through you and anyone who followed you out, and you ask if we are ready to fight to prove we- you- are right?"_

 _A dark chuckle came from the Throne that spoke of amusement and humoring the young man, "And what do you think the correct solution is, young one?"_

 _A look of surprise crossed the vibrant young man's face before it was steeled in determination, "We do not have need or time to sit and weather the insults and injustices thrown at us as the Slumbering Panther would have us do, play their games as long as they see fit until they give us their scraps. No, we have years of proof that it has done very little to help, and I will not sit by idly. Nor will we Follow the Stalking Tigress in her farce of a Campaign, slinking in the shadows striking and stealing until the Humans fear us like the Grimm!"_

 _He stopped his rant and visibly calmed himself before his steely Grey eyes looked up at the Figure and he grit out between his teeth, "Because we are better than that, than the Humans, and we can prove it. We will fight them and win, and do to them what they have done to us; Enslave and subjugate them until they recognize the only thing that they can. If they can only see the world as an order of Power, we will show them that we are strong in the only way they will recognize," he finished his speech and tried to calm himself by slicking back his hair and the White Feathers that adorned his Hood._

 _For a moment the Figure did nothing, before a dry chuckle erupted into full blown laughter and he clapped his hands. "Perfect Child," He said after a coughing fit, "You are indeed ready to fight. Strong in body mind and soul, you shall be victorious as long as you do not remember your words," He stopped coughing and relaxed into his seat, "But I believe that you have something that is need of testing."_

 _The young man tensed in place, before he nodded in confirmation._

 _The Figure pointed towards the window and spoke slowly, "Then find the nearest Village and Test it," The young man nodded before he moved towards the Doors once more, "And Abbad? Do make it intensive, I wouldn't want anything going wrong when you face the_ **Beithir** _."_

 _The group moved in unison without looking back, feet instep and bodies robotically moving through the same space, but the figure knew that his words would be heeded and shifted to lean back into the Throne. The Chamber once more fell silent and the doors slid closed once more to cloak the Figure in his room filled to the Brim with History to revel in and repeat._

 _Then his head tilted up to gaze upon the largest Relief in the room and tried to quell the anticipation that threaten to break his poise._

 _One Man stood at the top of a Pyramid, golden paint blazing an Aura around his form, with Wings of Light that sprouted from his back, and at the Foot of the Pyramid laid an uncountable number of people._

 _All bent over in worship or shackled in detainment._

"' _He who would stand above Humanity,' Indeed," Croaked the Figure before a Fit of laughter overcame him and he succumbed to it in the dark and silent room, broken only by the sight and sound of someone sitting in the candlelight cackling insanely in to the night._

* * *

 _End of Interlude_

* * *

I found the time that I had been allotted for guard duty to be a calming and relaxing thing as I observed the environment with my keen senses. A breeze swept lazily through the trees, spilling snow and dead leaves to fall and flutter to the forest floor, whistling all the way. The embers of the fire had stopped popping and crackling half an hour ago, but I could still hear the infinitesimally quiet sounds of the burnt wood cracking as the dry cold air hit and contracted it. I could hear the sounds of my Teammates heart pumping and the blood filling their limbs before slowly being pumped out in their sleep.

I could smell the crispness and cleanness in the Air that always came with fresh snow and coming stormy skies, as well as the Smell of the burnt Birch bark and the Oak logs that had been the fuel that had been drifting up through the Bare branches that hung over the clearing in which we slept. I could smell the metal filings that sat in the snow by the fire from where Mr. Newman had spent an hour and a half cleaning and sharpening his weapons in the Firelight, out of what I assumed was an inability to trust his safety to a bunch of Students, before he too fell asleep in his travel-worn Tent that he had set up in mere moments.

I had offered to be on guard duty for the entire night as I had the entire duration of my previous trip, but I had been told off by my partner who had demanded that I get a good amount of Sleep. I had agreed verbally, but I had spent a month with her and knew that she would be the first down and first up. I waited before she fell asleep in the Tent set up for her and Cosma before simply pulling myself out and setting myself up next to Raul at the Fire to wait for my turn.

Because the only thing I got from Sleeping was a reset on my three **[Osteogenesis]** stacks, and it _hurt_ to apply them every morning to turn my bones back into the defense matrix of my internal organs with the Durability of Titanium.

I had pulled the second to last shift of Watch after Roman, who I had spent the night telling stories into the night as I kept watch on my own. Because with the Level of my **[Instinct]** if I stood still I could Hear out to just under a mile, and if it was moving fast enough to make the Mile before I could wake up the others then we were beyond fucked to begin with.

I swung my Chain underhanded to throw a curtain of fine powder into the air before I yanked and twisted the weapon so that it came back and swept through the curtain and reduced the snow it touched as it zoomed through into water. A few pulls and swings and the Chain was once more coated in water that was quickly freezing to the cold metal, slowly adding to the weight of the weapon as I swung it through the air, increasing not only the difficulty but also the Damage of the attacks I made with it.

The issue was the shattering effect it had on impact.

I had spent the past few hours trying to engineer a solution to the issue, before I realized that it might not be too much of an issue at all. I focused every bit of Aura down the length of my weapon and into the Ice that was coating it, with the intention to make follow my command. With one final twist of the length in my hand the few feet of the weapon I had out scythed towards the trunk of a mighty oak twenty feet away before pulling back on it. The effect was a whip crack of the Chain as the ice all flew forwards in shards that perforated the trunk of the Oak with a multitude of inch long shards.

A cough brought my attention away from the Oak and I turned to see Ashley at the edge of the small clearing, "Impressive," she declared imperiously as she waved towards my handiwork, "I had always assumed that you chose your weapon because you lacked a different option, not because you were skilled with it," she smiled at me as she walked towards me, "Way to prove me wrong."

"Oh shove off," I said as I reached back to scratch the top of my head, "You'll make me blush. Did I wake you up?" I deflected the praise as I rolled the spool of chain back around my arm.

She blinked before smiling once more, "Not quite. I forgot to turn off my alarm for school days on my scroll," then her eyes narrowed in my direction, "Did you not wake me up on purpose?"

My eyes looked up at the sky and noted the placement of the Moon nearing the Tops of the trees, "You needed the sleep, but no it wasn't intentional. I just got lost in trying to make a trick work." I also took the time to look at the new notification that had appeared after I had completed the Assault on the Oak.

* * *

 **Stat Requirements met; Str 50 and Res 50.**

 **Skill Learned; [Shatter], Level 1!**

 _ **Like everything else in this world, Ice and Steel will yield and break apart in the face of the Determined.**_

 **By pumping Aura into an object you can Force it apart with the Strength of your Soul.**

 **Costs 11*(weight of the Object in lbs) in Ap to separate it safely.**

 **Costs 22*(weight of the Object in lbs) in Ap to explode into shrapnel.**

 **Costs 66*(weight of the Object in lbs) in Ap to sublimate an object into a gaseous state.**

* * *

I willed it away from my sight with a smirk on my face, wondering just what would happen if my Aura decided to fail when I used the skill, before coming to the conclusion that it would probably just default to the Exploding variant to inflict as much harm on me as possible.

"Of course you did," she announced with a frown and a suspicious look in her eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest as she stared me down, "You just happened to forget to wake me for my shift when you were trying to take the entire night's watch?"

I blinked as I realized the implication, "I mean you could ask Roman or Cosma, I was up for theirs as well, and they'd tell you I let them take their turns as well. You could ask your Dad as well if wanted, though he wasn't out quite the entire time."

She immediately reddened, "He's not my Dad!" She shouted with what I thought look between irritation and embarrassment. I gave her a look, and she quieted for a moment before the childishness of actions caught up with her and the flush crept up her neck and ended past her Ears, "L-let's just go back to camp, please?" she muttered in mortification, to which I laughed heartily.

The timber of her voice was entirely different when she was embarrassed, the cultured and incharge young woman was replaced by the teenager she tried not to portray.

She growled at me as I passed but I paid it no mind, because it just hit me how underdressed she was for the climate. I had been leveling up **[Exposure]** simply by existing in Freezing temperatures in appropriate gear, and there was no way that a girl, or _anyone else for that matter_ , who weighed half of what I did could beat me in a game of constitution. I eyed the thin Grey hooded jacket that she wore over a pullover with a knee length skirt over leggings that met Fur Lined boots. I stared at them for a moment, "How in the hell are you even alive without a jacket?!" I asked incredulously.

Because When I said _freezing temperatures_ I meant _Cold enough for a drop of water to freeze before it hit the ground_. I was bundled in my Patchwork Hoodie under three layers of Flannel with eleven percent of the cold and wind chill being ignored and I was still cold.

She blinked at me before looking down at herself and then looking back up to me with a smile, "Because I have a better semblance than anyone else," she responded with smugness as she turned her nose in the air and sashayed towards camp. With each step she took the Snow underneath her boots melted only to be refrozen into pucks of ice once she moved away, and I could only snarl in retaliation as I finally noticed the Waves in the air around her as though she were the air above a grill.

"You're using your semblance to act as a personal heater," I asked in irritation as I ducked under Branches and stomped through the snow, snow that didn't yield to me like some fiery incarnation of nature like _someone I could mention_ , "And you leave your partner to deal with the Cold?"

She made a show of thinking about it as she walked along daintily before she beamed at me, "Yes. Yes I do." I growled under my breath and lunged at her, but she slid through the snow with a laugh and easily evaded me, as I wasn't about to activate a skill for some childish game.

But I would punch something for a childish game.

Without hesitation, all day everyday.

I lunged once more but this time when she slid out of the way I followed in the tracks she made and hit the tree she was passing. The result was a metric fuckton of snow falling on both of us and her startled yelp was all the reward I needed.

* * *

"There you two are!" Raul called as we walked into Clearing, Myself smiling and covered head to toe in Snow that had stuck and frozen to my body with Ashley glaring holes in the side of my head looking a tad bit damp.

It seemed that while she could get the air around her warm enough to melt snow, she wasn't quite willing to turn it up to boiling to get rid of her predicament.

"Mornin'," I answered as I shook myself off as my partner stalked past me towards her tent, "Have any trouble getting the other two up?"

Cosma emerged from the the shared tent looking half-asleep as she was pushed through the portal to the outside world. She sat blinking on the ground for a moment blinking before shrugging and standing up. Roman appeared in his Down coat with a pink one hanging over his arm, which he presented to the recently vacated Girl. I shared a look with Raul before we both just shook our heads in unison. "Had just woke up myself," he explained as he pulled his Coat over his shoulders and motioned towards the firepit and a metal contraption that lay in it, "And I was wondering where our resident Hotplate was."

I turned towards the Metal container and sniffed the air before turning around with an amused look, "Were you going to use Ashley to make coffee?"

He coughed into his fist with a look of false indignation, "I've no idea-" but my eyes suddenly focused on the Minimap as information began to leak into my brain. It wasn't much at first, just the sound of wind rushing through trees before I heard the noise that signalled the New dots that had just appeared on the edges of my Sensory Circle on the Minimap; The Thrashing of the Air by multiple sets of Wings.

"We got Incoming," I interrupted him and turned towards the South, where he turned as well and unsheathed his pair of Handaxes warily. I saw the moment he heard it as his eyes narrowed and he Hollered to the Rest of the Party to pack up quickly. They looked at us with worry in their eyes but did so nonetheless. I unhooked the Chain on my arm and rolled my shoulder in a stretch as it unspooled before shuffling under my many layers of Flannel before producing my Pistol, fully loaded. It took a minute before they were visible, but both me and Raul clearly saw the flock of Flying Grimm as flew over the road and the gap in the Forest.

Both of us readied our weapons as the four dozen Grimm flew directly towards us…

And kept flying.

I released the breath I had taken in anticipation for violence. "False Alarm..?" I muttered in confusion, not quite trusting myself on the unbelievable luck of having the Monsters, all of which were my level or higher, miss us entirely.

Raul sheathed his weapons and began to pack away the camp, "Not quite, Kid. Grimm are attracted to negativity," my eyes widened as I thought about how much negativity would be necessary to cloud my raging ass from them so completely, "Specifically of the Human and Faunus Variety, so we better get moving. Because someone, somewhere is having a bad day."

He began to help the others pack up, but I was concerned that they would be too slow. "They're fliers, so they would fly in straight lines. I'll track 'em and leave behind some tracks or somethin for you to follow," I stated with confidence before bunching my legs beneath me. I heard the beginnings of protest come from those I was leaving behind, but I paid them little mind.

They'd find me, I was sure of it.

I pumped six hundred points, about a third of my Stamina pool, into a **[Power Jump]** and launched into the sky after my prey. Treetops whistled by almost a hundred feet under me as I sped through the sky and readied another **[Jump]** to continue my journey when I landed. **[Smackdown]** barely had a moment to activate, pressurizing the Snow into Water upon my Landing in a much more sparsely populated part of the Forest and knocking down a nearly dead Pine Tree, before I was hurtling through the air once more.

As I came down for another landing I could faintly make out a black cloud on the horizon and I decided to slow down, as the air was kind of their domain, and took of at a loping run with a bound every minute to keep pace with the speedy Grimm. Thirty minutes in the Frozen grass became Frozen sand and Trees gave way to piles of rock covered in snow, and another ten minutes I saw what I assumed to be their target begin to make itself known to my eyes. Small squat buildings laid out over a square mile in the Desert, with a road bisecting the place.

Irritation spiked in me as the realization that taking my chances in the air with the Fliers, as while my Skill was great at long distances and straight lines, the control and _ability to turn_ that would be necessary in a dogfight. I snarled and pushed on, jumping with every step to multiply my speed exponentially to pull past the flying Grimm and try to beat them to the town. Couldn't fight them in the air, then I'd stop them when they stooped to my level to get some grub.

I bounced across the Frozen Tundra towards the town in my sights, and stopped momentarily as I noticed through the haze of the of the Oncoming Snowstorm that was beginning to start up a Pillar of Grey Smoke stretching up into the sky, barely visible as it blended into the Storm Clouds behind it. My eyes widened and I Launched myself towards the Town that was now close enough for me to make out the windows on the nearest buildings.

Something in the Town was burning.

* * *

I landed on the outskirts of town in a large pile of unrefined Dust, sliding down the inert material to release the extra momentum of my jump without activating **[Smackdown]** and alerting everyone in the area to my location, as I was getting pretty ominous vibes from the Town. The Buildings were quiet in the middle of the day, and the large Mining equipment that was visible at the East end of the Town sat quiet on a Tuesday and the SDC Branded Offices without a single light on. A Klaxon sounded in the distance, drowning the Settlement in an eerie whine that went loud and quiet, but never quite stopped.

And every single person I could sense was standing in front of a Burning building in the middle of town Without Moving, but Yelling and Talking all at once all over each other making it a mess of noise I couldn't understand in any way other than understanding their Panic.

A chill ran down my spine at how unnatural the place felt.

I cautiously moved towards the Tallest building in my vicinity that was at least Four Stories tall and began to climb the building by simply activating **[Rend]** and creating handholds to make it to the top of the building, without making a sound loud enough to be heard over the wind and Snow. Once I was on top I looked up and found that the Flock had arrived, and braced for the worst before, noticing that they were simply circling the Entire Town like Carrion.

They expected people to die.

I moved towards the edge of the building that had a line of sight on the Gathering in the middle of town and found the sight of Hundreds of people, all in uniforms varying from suits to working clothes of a miner all standing in random order but equal spacing like an army standing at attention. I saw what looked to be the entire population of the town in the formation, all looking scared and terrified or with an odd look of Awe on their face. I followed every single gaze to the Front of the Pavillion, where what I assumed was the Headquarters of the Town, whether it was a Town hall or Business office was up in the air, burnt in a pillar of flame and smoke behind the Marble Steps that had once led up to its doors.

Upon the Steps stood Four individuals, too far away for me to make out their Nametags, surrounded by covered and cloaked figures less central holding Rifles in their hands. One of these Goggled figures approached the Four on the Steps while Pulling a bound and struggling Man to the front who was struggling to no avail. Now that I could see the layout and positions of people in the Square I could sift through the Cacophony of Noise with a little effort. I honed in on the words of those at the front as my **[Listening]** stretched out past the masses.

"-op Struggling, you'll only make it worse," Said the man in Robes that I assumed made surviving the Frozen sands easier, before he threw him at the feet of the others.

"Thank you," Said the Figure on the furthest most Right of the Group before he moved towards the struggling man. He reached down and stilled the man by placing a hand on his shoulder, "The Last of the Flock, My Shepherd. Once he is converted everything should be ready for you to begin," And then his Aura surged and a sickly green light erupted around the two men and stayed that way for a little over twenty seconds.

When it died down he reached down and undid the man's Bindings and stepped back to watch the man walk robotically into the crowd to find his spot, all while cursing the men and what they were doing. As he came closer to the back I noticed the flare of his newly awakened aura coating his entire body below the neck as he moved. He moved into the back and then stood still at attention, but never once did he stop talking.

A figure wearing thinner robes and more color anyone else in Robes stepped up a step before turning towards the Townsfolk and Raising his hands to the air in front of him and yelling in a booming voice, " **Silence!** "

As I watched the Aura of every single person in the Formation flared and cocooned their head as well as their body, and suddenly all of the din of their noise died down. I watched in fascination and horror as the eyes widened as people realized they now couldn't move their jaws. On those in the back closest to me I could see the muscles in their necks bulge and strain as they tried in vain to speak, but in the end they were unable to fight the order.

After a moment the Man put his hands back down and began to speak, "I'd like to thank you all for your… _cooperation_ in this endeavor, as without you all of this would be for nothing," he spread his hands out to his sides, "And with this effort We will be that much closer to a Secure future. You all will remember this day as the day you sacrificed everything you were for the betterment of the World," every muscle in my body began tensing, but without any information on what the man was planning I couldn't bring myself to move. In a moment the unwilling participants in the Audience began to glow as their Aura climbed, and in response the Man's own Bright Gold Aura climbed to heights that I hadn't seen in my time around Huntsmen and Huntsmen-in-training.

My eyes narrowed as the Auras of the first row of People winked out and they were released from their stasis falling in various states of Fatigue to the ground, looking too tired to do much of anything, and before my eyes I watched the Flares of Aura across the Pavillion dwindle before more people were released. The Aura of the Man reached a fever pitch and it coalesced in a physical molding of Aura that looked like a Golden cape that spread from the man's Shoulders and drooped from his outstretched arms to the floor.

From my position so far away it was hard to make out exactly what it was made of before he flexed his arms and the two constructs fully revealed themselves. Two large wings made of Smaller diamonds of concentrated Aura, that grew by a diamond with each Person whose Aura gave out. I Stared hard, soaking in the things before he turned and gestured with his right arm towards a streetlight, and a moment later his Newly Formed Wing followed.

For a quiet second I thought that the appendage had simply phased right through it before a line of destruction appeared upon it and the ground behind it and erupted into an explosion that wiped a Square Yard of space around it. I, like the rest of those in the Pavillion, was stunned into silence while the man folded his Wings upon his arms into a Shawl made of Destruction and addressed the crowd once more, "And Like that, you have just provided The World with a Potent Weapon to fight her Monsters. Now, Hector, Do as you will."

And with that final message he turned away from the crowd and walked off of the steps while being flanked by the three others that had been up there with him. The men carrying rifles then marched into a line at the front of the Plaza. The Robed man who had been dragging the man from before, now named Hector, stepped forward and yelled into the crowd as the rest of the men pointed their rifles into the Sea of Civilians, "Faunus Step to your left, Humans to your right."

My brows furrowed for a moment before concluding that whatever it was, it sure as hell wasn't good. I prayed to whatever deity would listen that my Team would get here soon, because I didn't see this going smoothly before coiling my legs beneath me and Dumping all of my Stamina into one _massive_ **[Power Jump]**. I felt the concrete under my feet crumble and fall away as I lifted off, and the Cold tried to rip the air from my lungs and the moisture from my eyes. After twenty seconds I had gone higher than I had ever been, before my velocity began to bleed off and for but a moment I felt weightless.

Then Gravity proved itself and Dragged me downwards to hurtle towards the ground with the only thing to do to wait and Brace for Impact while preparing **[Smackdown]**. My health Ticked down as my eardrums burst from the pressure differences I was experiencing and my skin already had a layer of Ice beginning to build up, but I grit my teeth and prepared myself through it. As I plummeted downwards I was pushed off course along the way, drifting from Hector himself to the Steps just behind him. I crossed my arms in front of my face and strengthened the bones in my forearms.

The force of my landing felt like I had been hit in the sternum by a Bullhead, and I felt the Tears and Gashs that ripped across my skin as I dug into the Ground as the Force of my landing was spread out around the crater. I pulled myself free of a piece of Rebar that had been holding the Cement under the Pavillion together and surveyed my handiwork as my Eardrums began to heal alongside the rest of my body, which was down a third of my health.

Not a bad trade-off, I decided as I stepped past a Mutilated corpse and the remainders of a rifle only to find much more intact looking Enemies no less dead than Hector, or what remained of him. I stepped up past the lip of the Crater and found the Townsfolk had done the smart thing and began to scatter while the… Terrorists? Kidnappers?

I turned and squinted at a nearby enemy, who was holding a ruined leg that was rapidly leaking blood, and observed his Nametag.

 **[Hector Sangre]**

 **[Level 12 Deserter]**

Deserters then.

I raised an eyebrow at him, deciding that this was probably just a second hector, before unholstering my Pistol and lining up his head in my sights. He had a moment to blink before getting out the first syllables of what I assume was his attempt to beg for his life before I pulled the trigger and he fell backwards with a new hole in his forehead.

I unfurled my Chain and took one step forwards before One of the Smarter Blokes called out " _ **Huntsman!**_ " with a cry of terror before he unloaded on me, and the others followed suit. I threw myself into his space before slamming the Chain down to cut halfway through his body, and empowered a kick to send his body flying with a clap of thunder into two riflemen behind him. I turned around and popped a few shots into Deserters behind me until I saw the crackle and fizzle of their Aura cut out, at which I tore free the last evidence I had fallen into the Concrete a moment ago from my shoulder and **[Power Threw]** it like a javelin.

I felt my head move forward an inch and heard the distinct crack of breaking wood as the piece of Rebar speared through two different riflemen as they fled, and turned to find a robed man staring dumbly at the broken Rifle that was held in his hands. My left hand shot out and grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him off the ground in front of me like a shield as the last courageous, _and stupid_ , riflemen continued to shoot at me. I Launched towards the last group of enemies with my new shield and used him as a battering ram to knock all four of them to the ground.

With an air of Finality I spread my hands wide and Coated them with Aura before slamming them together, using the resulting explosion to crumble the concrete between me and them and send it flying at them many times the speed of sound, tearing the dazed men unable to activate their Aura into shreds in seconds. I stood tall and let out a deep breath that fogged in front of my face before I turned to survey what was left of the Town Square, now with a sixty foot diameter Crater in front of its burning building and the concrete crumbling under my feet.

I heard the Winged Man before I saw him, and turned around to see him standing behind me with three other amorphous robed figures. His hands continued to meet as he mockingly slow-clapped for me, and I Growled with a hint of **[Project Bloodlust]** to get the point across. He stopped and looked taken aback, "Oho?" he stated with disdain, "Feeling a little hostile are we? Well we can't have that," He snapped his fingers and smiled at me from under his hood as his wings faded from existence, "You may be a fool, but you might delay us long enough for bigger guns to arrive."

 **[?]**

 **[Level 39 Exalted Paragon]**

 **[** _ **Idolized**_ **]**

I stepped towards him and readied to launch myself towards him and strangle the answers I wanted out of him before I felt a rumbling under my feet, and I noticed hundreds of dots rushing towards my position. I turned towards the entrance of the Plaza and saw every single one of the Civilians that had just been released sprinting towards my position at full tilt. The fastest of the bunch were close enough for me recognize the clear signs of Terror on their faces as they approached.

" **Kill the Huntsman or Die trying!** " The Man behind me called to the masses, which seemed to animate their Aura prisons even further as they gained speed and crowded towards me. He laughed as he backed up, "That should hold you long enough, I think. Don't you?" His voice had the distinct Vacuon accent, but nothing else was obvious enough for me to gleam just by looking at the man before he turned and Left at a casual pace. I cursed as he glowed brightly before disappearing entirely and turned to face the new threat, who were moving much faster than I would have expected civilians to be able to.

Though, compared to people I had trained with every other day for the past month like Taylor and Emily, they felt like they were practicing Tai Chi.

I ducked under a sloppy Hook that was aimed for my head and placed a hand against their Sternum and _pushed_. I grit my teeth as I saw Blood fly from the Man's Lips as his Aura broke under my assault and let most of my Attack hit him in the chest. The rest mobbed around him and nearly trampled him before I swung my Chain at their legs to send most of them flying up into the air with the force of the attack alone. I looked away as my reflexes kicked in as a young woman tried to shank me with a pocket knife from the left and I went through the motions of disarming them, a process normally reserved for Huntsmen or Hunters-In-Training and when implemented with my strength…

The Girl Cried out as she fell to the ground clutching at her now most likely fractured and dislocated Shoulder.

" _ **Fuck!**_ ," I yelled as I realized _I_ was going to do more damage to the populace than anything the Deserters had done, before my fevered eyes locked onto the tear filled eyes of the girl I had just disabled, _who was no longer trying to attack me,_ as an idea came to me. I grabbed the hand that held a bat that was being swung at my head and lifted him above my head before turning and hip throwing him into the crowd of people like a bowling ball, allowing me enough space to speak clearly to the people, " _Oi! When yer Aura runs out, help me knock some sense into these people, they're just aiming for me, and I'm hurting more than I'm helping!_ " And then the rush of people was back on me.

Bats, steel pipes, and even bike locks were wielded against me as the crowd of people swarmed around me, but they were all absorbed.

 **[Juggernaut]** took away three fourths of their damage, bring most of their attacks into the single digits which was more than low enough for **[Iron Skin]** to activate, effectively leaving me immune to the crowd who were too weak to actually kill me. I leaned down until I was no longer being jostled and pushed by the crowd before sitting down under the 'Onslaught' criss cross applesauce as they began to try and curb stomp me and Pulled up my **[Skills]** page to search through for something I could use.

"Grapple could Work…" I mumbled as I caught a foot with said Skill, but the Aura barrier stayed firmly in place before it began to regen under my fingers, and I sighed, "Not enough," I muttered.

"You alright, Kid?" the older man who looked to be on the light side of three hundred pounds and in his mid fifties asked as I let go of his foot.

"Fucking Annoyed," I snarled as someone's Bat hit and slid off of my jaw, "Give me a second and I'll think of something, Old timer. Made of Sterner Stuff than most."

"Ya act like we have a choice in giving you a rough time," Another man covered in soot wearing overalls said, "If ya weren't built out of Steel we woulda killed'ya by now!"

"Honestly, I think he could take Abbad!" Said the Old Timer, just before his leg stopped moving and he fell to the ground. I stopped going through the Page to stare at him, but the Miner from before spoke up before I could.

"Jack! The hell did you do differently than us?" He yelled as he began to pant from the exertion of stomping on me. Honestly, it didn't sound like how I wanted to spend my afternoon either.

"I was just thinking that he could take the great big Feathery Fuck in a fight!" He declared hotly as he stood up, only to be mobbed by others still held by their Auras. But then a murmur of agreement swept throughout those around me as they continued to try and beat me to death to no avail until they lost heart as well.

" **[Soul Tear]**...?" I read questioningly as I grabbed another foot as it came down and activated the Skill. A flash of Light erupted in my hand as the man's Aura failed under the explosion of my Aura failing the check to perform the Skill and sent him hurtling out of my sight. I shook my head in disgust, "Of course not, why would it be _easy_?" I sighed as I stood up and reloaded my Pistol, ignoring the weapons that tried and failed to stop me, "Alright, I tried this the easy way, you all saw! Now we do it the Hard way," I stated as I pulled back the hammer of the gun with my Thumb, "And I have it from a trusted source that Bullets… _Sting_ when they are stopped by Aura. Who wants to go first!"

Fists and Weapons Faltered under My look as **[Project Bloodlust]** washed over the group of civilians and there was a collective Swallow as they stared at the man who fell out of the Sky and then brutally destroyed the forces that had detained the entire Town.

If anyone would beat some sense into them, it was going to be him.

"I choose you!" I yelled as I grabbed a man and placed the barrel of the gun to his chest and pulled the trigger. He yelped as he fell backwards, and the rest of the people looked from him to me, where I smiled my Jagged smile full of teeth and lacking Mercy. I pointed the gun at another Woman's Chest, placing it right above the Heart, where her eyes widened in alarm before her arms shot towards the sky.

"I'm Cured!" She cried desperately, "Please don't _shoot_ _me_!"

I laughed demonically, before stepping towards another person and placing it to his sweaty forehead as I caught his swinging fist and lifted him into the air. Once his eyes open and then crossed to find where the barrel was placed his arm went limp in my hand and he began to whimper in fear. "That's the funny thing about Aura," I stated as I put him back on the ground and grabbed the next one, a large miner who didn't quail under the threat and needed the Shot as a Cure, "It will _always_ act in your best interests. And the Threat of Death is all you need to slap some sense into you," I stated cruelly as a smirk worked its way onto my face, "No hand-holding, no training wheels, just a true threat to scare ya and have ya focused on living!"

I placed the gun against the Head of the Grumpy Miner from before and fired, causing him to tip over and cradle his head in his hands, and I laughed a little louder as I continued cranking **[Project Bloodlust]** and feeling **[Intimidate]** Activate as well, as my appearance and demeanor began to work to my benefit for once. I whipped the Pistol butt into the jaw of the highest level Civilian in the Mob as he tried to tackle me with a look of anger on his face, shattering the barrier and then his jaw under the blow.

I heard a few people begin to cry under the onslaught of Bloodlust and the sight of me bringing the big burly man to the ground with contemptible ease, before wiping the spittle off the gun with a casual motion even as bike locks and tire irons bounced off the back of my head. "Maybe there is a different, more _peaceful_ way to do this," I spoke with a smile, "But I ain't the guy to do it."

The Pillar of Fire was beginning to dwindle in size and the Light it provided wasn't enough to make much of their details out in Dusk with the increasing amount of Snow that was falling in the Twilight, but I didn't have to paint their picture.

I just had to Shoot them. The gun flashed down and aimed at another as my baleful red eyes drilled into them and I shouted with force, " **So get ready, cause this is gonna hurt!** "

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

There are many days that are marked in the Short History books of Slurry, a SDC Mining town on the Southern End of the Frozen Sands of Vacuo, that are spoke of in hush tones and told to children as they grew up in the town.

The Story of the First Cave-in that cost Fifty four lifes.

The Blizzard that covered the town in fifteen feet of snow in a single night.

The Rampaging Tentacle Grimm that killed Seventy people before being put down.

All were told with a reverence for the past, all with the message that Man and Faunus alike was at the Whims of the World. That sometimes things were outside of their hands, and there was no point in trying to deny it.

Simply Adapt and Continue on.

That was the Motto of the Town, after all.

But no story was told as often as the story of the Day that the Dust Devil came to Town.

A group of men came in and rounded up the hundred and fifty or so people that lived in the Town, killing the SDC Guards and anyone who resisted, before they were forced to obey a man they knew nothing about. He played with them like Puppets, made them walk and watch as he did the same to their families and their friends, and then had the Audacity to speak to them as old friends and thank them for their cooperation.

He made them dance and move for his own agendas and then made them watch as he achieved great power by draining them of their very souls. Then he cast them away to be toyed with by his men.

And only once they were being separated to be killed did the Dust Devil arrive. At this point he wasn't well known, so none of us knew him by sight, but we'd later recognize him from stories that traders brought from the road. Much like many of the stories surrounding him, he appeared seemingly form nowhere, in an explosion of violence that killed or disheartened the evil men and scared away the Puppetmaster as the coward sent the Townsfolk to attack the Dust Devil, who weathered the best they had and beat them down one by one, all one hundred and fifty of them taken down by the lone man.

And with his violence came an important lesson; Fear and Pain are great motivators. Obey the **Scarier Monster.**

The Man wearing torn and bloody clothes looked impervious to us, and he told us the secret to staying alive; to be afraid of what could kill you. Not exactly the wisdom of a sage, nor anything profound or hard to see, nor is it even hard to imagine the utility in his words.

But when he said them to you while you stared down the Barrel of a Gun the Size of your head, you tended to take them literally and learn the lesson quickly. He severed the Puppetmaster's strings one by one, some through violence and others through sheer presence alone. Why would they Listen to the Man that was scared off when a much more threatening beast had wandered along?

He had scared them into never wanting to be scared again.

The Townsfolk thanked him for his help and then kindly asked him to never return.

He agreed and left with a Simple Message.

" **Never Accept Defeat again, and you'll never need me again**."

The survivors of the Attack had all then dedicated themselves to protecting themselves and their Town, now that they all had had there Auras unlocked they were able to do so. They also became better able to mine in the Destructive and dangerous environments with the added protection and quickly became one of the Largest SDC Mining Facilities in the World. Newcomers were told the same stories the Children were, and they brought stories of their own as they filtered in, bringing tales of the Dust Devil with them.

The Dust Devil never found his way back to Slurry, and the Elderly sighed in relief at not having to face their fears once more, as the lessons were passed down and absorbed. They'd never need the Dust Devil again, not if they had anything to say about it. If it came to it, they'd become the scarier monster.

Fear and Pain _are_ great motivators, after all.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 _Theeeere we go._

 _I've been reading a lot of Gamer Stories and I've come to the conclusion that either they are not a lot of stories out there that manage to convey the true difference between someone who can choose their path and someone stumbling along in the woods with a blindfold on while training who happens to find a path. Honestly, I don't know why everyone goes for the Scattergun, Jack-of-All Trade Style of character for Mages that try to Use Magic to exist in all roles in combat and let Companions and Teammates play their roles around them as the protagonist._

 _Which I think is a little conceited of them, even if they have the most flexibility they also could, I don't know, FUCKING SPECIALIZE?! Oh good, you're a mage that can take a hit by wasting precious Spell Juice on Shields? FUCK OFF and blast the shit out of the baddies and let the Tanks do their jobs._

 _Imagine if you would, that you were playing a game where every character was assigned a role except for one, and the one who could choose its path decided that instead of filling a necessary role in the party that was missing they'd try to everyone else's job all at once for the lulz._

 _I imagine a few of you might be mad._

 _The natural counter argument would be, "So I'm better able to contend when I'm alone," and to you I say, "Why the fuck would you ever be alone in a dangerous situation, ever? Especially if you weren't just a straight up Main Tank. Shit iz wack yo."_

 _Another thing I have noticed is that there is a clear lack of Metagaming in a lot of the Gamer stories out there, which is surprising as the Stories are about games, two mediums in one which is nearly the definition of Meta. There are some good ones, I remember a Story in the Harry Potter Universe that started strong on the Meta and Shinobi: The RPG has an exp whore as the main character because "fuck you Third Hokage, I can kill the Big Baddy that you couldn't", but Most Stories tend to have their most Meta Elements be how much the character wants to improve and how fast Skills Progress. I highly recommend Shinobi by the way, even if I disagree with some of the creative decisions taken, as it has the balls to have a MC that deals with things directly and is written much better than this hunk of Shit you're reading._

 _And my Final point from my Initial Research into the Niche Genre of Gamer Stories is that everyone tends to conflate Chaotic Good Anti-Hero who does things his own way with the Lawful Good Mindsets that seek to complete their objectives with as little violence as possible. For instance, people love to claim that a character is chaotic simply because they follow their own rules as opposed to societal norms, which means that they are not chaotic by definition and are indeed lawful. People love to call Naruto Chaotic and unpredictable, which I'd only say is accurate for his fighting style, as his world view is incredibly dogmatic and dominates every interaction he has._

 _My Goal in this Fic is to Portray a Chaotic/Neutral Good Character as Well as I can, which means that innocent people gonna get shot, Bad guys gonna get butchered, and Mercy is for those that can afford to hesitate. I hope the point had crossed your mind at some point, that Austin has a tendency to follow whims and instinct more than Morality or Reason, sometimes to his detriment, but that every moral problem doesn't have the same solution, even if to him every Physically dangerous problem does._

 _Alright, That's about the gist of my Sleep-Addled Rant._

 _As always, Review if you got something to say._

 _Jericho Out._


	17. Level 1: Part 8

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _It was a beautiful day, unblemished by clouds in the sky or the usual deadly creeping cold that resided in the air around_ Toft _, instead only a pleasant Spring Breeze and the blue sky remained. The Air was crisp and clean, the smell of Newly growing greenery mixed in the air with the smells of Town, with Bread and Meat turning the smell into something greater._

 _Meter took a great big whiff of the air before settling back into her position on the Wall that overlooked the Treeline. The sounds of building and construction were coming to life behind her, but thankfully it wasn't caused by an attack or collapse. No, the townsfolk were getting together to celebrate the start of Spring with a jaunty little festival and Meter had gladly volunteered to take Guard duty for the Festival. It had been two months since her and her family had moved to the small town on the South western End of Mantle._

 _Her husband Regal had been charged with the upkeep and the finances of the Village after he had been discharged from the Military for Health Reasons, and she had brought her daughters after he and the small town built a home for them to live in. They had been hesitant at first, and Meter couldn't find it in herself to blame them for it, but quickly grew out of the shyness._

 _The awe for Nature and being in such a different place than Atlas that had kept her eldest Daughter in check was traded for a rigorous and intense desire to absorb of as much of the culture as she could, while her sister was much too young to truly understand the difference in surroundings. She did spend most of her time following after her older sister as she explored the village when she wasn't trying to steal sweets when Meter or her husband weren't looking._

 _The two sisters were alike in many ways._

" _Mom!" came a call from the stairs as the Two girls climbed them, one with entirely Pink hair and another in shades of Brown, White, and Pink, "The Festival already started, Why are you still up here?" The Pink blur stopped at the top of the stairs with a large smile to help her younger sister up the last step, the younger child accepted the hand with a smile._

 _Meter smiled at her children, internally laughing at the proud face of her younger Daughter, "I have to Work, even during the Festival, Cosma," She laughed out loud at the affronted look that appeared on both of their faces, "Besides, It isn't my festival yet, so I shall man the walls for them. They deserve the Break, Little Ones."_

" _B-but," Cosma grasped for words, as though the thought was so foreign for her mother to not celebrate with them, "What about you? You're gonna just sit up here and, and," she gestured towards the area that lay outside of the Wall, "Stare at Trees?!"_

 _Meter laughed at her once more before drawling in her thick accent that sounded like she was dancing between syllables, entirely at odds with the harsh and orderly language she spoke, "Yes, yes I believe I will. Besides, this'll probably be the last time I celebrate my_ own _Solstice tradition," She settled in her Seat, lowering her Rifle and placing it beside her in just the right way to make it able to be grabbed and repositioned easily. She also took her time in doing so, brushing her Ponytail back into place, checking the perimeter once more before cutting her eyes back over to her awkwardly standing children and blinking with false incredulity, "Well? Aren't you going to sit down and join me?"_

 _Immediately the Awkward postures were gone and siblings scrambled over and sat down on the Concrete around her feet, "Are you going to tell one of your stories again?" Cosma asked brightly as she futilely tried and failed to stop her sister from flopping into her lap and getting comfy with a bright smile._

" _Who do you take me for?" Meter questioned, placing a Hand on her chest and looking affronted, "Your Father? No, I will not bore you with one of my stories," with a smile she ignored the groan of disappointment. She reached out with a hand and poked her youngest on the nose, smiling in concert with her, "No, This is a Solstice, and according to tradition I shall tell you a Story of_ my village _, or of the areas around my village rather. It is one of the warmest places in Vacuo, the Northern tip of the Continent where lush Forests still grow wild and only the most hardy live there," She looked about conspiratorially, "Which is why your father wanted to leave, he hated the warm weather there."_

" _We won't tell," Cosma said as she leaned in response to the whisper, and the little girl in her lap nodded emphatically._

" _Of course you won't, you like me better," Meter agreed amicably._

" _Only according to you Mom, We just agree with you to get extra dessert from Dad," Cosma smiled beatifically at her Mother who raised an eyebrow at her in response. A second smile did nothing to change how she saw them, the conniving pair looking as innocent as only children could._

" _So proud of you two," she murmured as she looked around the Walls to confirm that there was no movement before returning to her story, "Now, as this is the Festival of Spring here, that means that below the equator they are celebrating the Festival of Fall, which is held in honor of our Protectors, those who have devoted their lives to the people whether by fighting or providing. Here and now the people take it to mean the Hunters and Farmers, and in a way they are correct, but in the historical sense they are wrong._

" _The Season of Fall is one of thankfulness, where people count up what they have and are able to give or hold freely, when families begin to come together and strengthen their bonds. Some say this is a result of the Season and Harvests, but our Traditions were different. They said that it was because in the Fall the Lords of Iron came to our shores to trade weapons and Armor for Food Stocks to survive the Winter."_

" _Lords of Iron…?" Cosma inquired quietly, as though she were scared she would be reprimanded for not knowing the Name._

" _Figures of Legend," Meter waved off her unease without thought, "They were said to be immortal in a sense, with a living memory that was shared down the ranks of their Family. Some stories say that it was a gift from the Younger Brother himself, others say a Curse from the Older, but all agree that they utilized it to the fullest. All of the People they honored with the status of Family would inevitably host one of the Lords of Iron, the Memories showing up young in their Offspring and driving them further than normal children. These Children, these new Lords, would always go on to do great things and help out their family and friends. They became pillars of the Community and were ushered into the offices of public servants, their natural ability and general attitudes making them great at their jobs._

" _They fought with the ferocity of ten men and took the reward of none of them, staying to help rebuild for those that were affected by their deeds. They were of no specific look or design, they came in all shapes and sizes; man or woman, tall or short, skinny or Stocky, it made no difference. They all were Fighters to the core, a message that would resonate in the Souls of those who saw them, with spirits unable to be broken and minds unable to be swayed. They were terrifying enemies, but truly magnificent allies to have._

" _According to Your Gran, Every single Hero from ancient Vacuoan Lore was a Lord of Iron if you looked hard enough. Said she met one, and she showed me a solidly made sword as though it were proof. I asked around the Village and the old men and Women all knew who I was talking about, and I found more and more beautiful works of Metal that were offered as proof. They told me that the Lords of Iron rewarded the Good and punished the Wicked, and that every Fall they came to the Shores of Vacuo to find more people to become honorary Family Members. As it turns out, if you put the mind of an eight hundred year old Warrior into a child's body, they'll tend to wear it out faster than normal, and they needed more numbers if they were to survive."_

" _So, they needed more Family members because they kept dying?" Cosma asked, her raised voice showing her displeasure at the idea._

" _Almost," Meter half-agreed with a wince, "They said that they'd continue to add people to the Family for as long as there were good people who wanted to be inducted. More and more people began to realize that becoming part of the Lords of Iron was to order a death sentence for their children, and the idea got around that maybe people should stop agreeing. The Fall Solstice was when the Lords arrived, and when they did they found no one willing to go. All of the Villagers had grown closer to their Families, and had clung to them in their fear for them."_

 _Meter took a deep breath as she reached over and grabbed her Rifle from the wall it was leaning against and rest it against her shoulder as she scoped in on an errant Nevermore before pulling the Trigger. As it fell she returned to her rapt audience, "And the Lords of Iron left Happy, knowing all too well that Family was a treasure to hold dear and to protect with your life. For them, it was what they did for their entire existence, so to see it in our Village made them happy. And we remembered them the only way they would have it; by having a celebration of Family and Gratitude in their Honor, whether or not we remember it."_

 _She looked them both in the eyes and smiled at Cosma, who was unconsciously hugging her little sister in her lap, "And I think it best that neither of you forget what they taught them; Always treasure your Family, and be ready to defend them even at your detriment. Now run along, Little Ones," She dismissed with a wave, "Go enjoy the festival, and go find your Father to annoy. I've a wall to defend."_

" _Yes Momma!" Cosma cried with a beaming smile before stepping up on her tippy toes to plant a kiss on her cheek before rushing off towards the stairs, with her younger Sister following in a more relaxed pace of Skipping._

 _Meter replaced her Rifle against her Shoulder and began her watch once more._

 _She had a family to protect, after all._

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

" _Uugh," I groaned as I tried to stay standing in the Grassy field, "Nan, Tell me a story."_

 _The battered old_ _ **hag**_ _simply looked up from her watch with a disdainful groan, "You want to hear a bedtime story right now, Whelp?" She squinted in my direction as she crossed her arms, "I didn't even hit you in the head_ **and** _I even remembered to bring Water bottles for you this time. You're not falling asleep or fainting anytime soon. The hell are you talking about?"_

 _I had to put my all into not falling to my knees, knowing that it wouldn't do anything but make my predicament worse, "I need a distraction from the Nausea," I groaned as I turned green in the gills and slammed down on the Bile threatening to rise with all of my willpower, "_ _ **Please**_ _, Nan. Anything'll do."_

" _Bah, Nausea means you're still alive," She said dismissively, "But I'll tell you the story. The only story that ever actually gets told; In the end all of em, every hero and every villain, die. Whether to each other, old age, Grimm, or my personal enemy Alcohol, they all croak," A sinister glint appeared in her eyes as she finally looked up from her watch with a feral grin, "But that's enough, your Minute's up, Pup! Time to beat on you until you gotta a good chance of dying in your sleep like a man should, fat and happy to the last day!"_

 _I yelped as I dived out of the way of a barely subsonic Foot that passed by my face, and quickly the Nausea was replaced by the focus defending against Nan required._

 _Still puked aterwards, though._

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

I was tasked with carrying and setting up all of the Camping equipment for the rest of the month, as punishment for leaving the Team behind to pursue something that could've been nothing. No amount of whining or complaining that it _had_ been something could sway them from my punishment. Thankfully, it was covered by **[Life on the Range]** and actually expedited the Process by a small margin to just do it myself, but I made a show of complaining for the sake of my audience.

They had arrived from their fight with the Circling Storm of Griffons shortly after I had beat or scared the crap out of the entire mining towns populace and had proceeded to drag me out of the town with a few bows and quick apologies to the confused townsfolk. Raul had been mostly quiet as we walked out of the Place, focusing his wide eyes on the ruined Plaza and the Torn up concrete from my Fight and most likely stunned silent by the state of the place.

Unfortunately, my team had become desensitized to my antics weeks before and had regrettably not stayed silent.

* * *

" _ **You Idiot**_ _!" Ashley yelled as she dragged me by my ear down the road away from the town, "What were you thinking?!" Her voice was surprisingly shrill, and it cut through the wind that was beginning to pick up with ease._

 _I yanked my head from her grasp with a grimace and scowled at her, "That something bad was happening and I had to stop it?" I honestly couldn't fathom the anger that most of my team seemed to be radiating._

 _Ashley stopped walking and turned towards me, causing me to stop as well, and crossed her arms as she stared me down from behind her glasses. She was quickly joined in glaring at me as Roman and Cosma entered my view, Cosma looking nervous as all hell as she tightened and readjusted her Bag over her shoulder while Roman was giving me a reproachful glare. Of all the reactions I found Roman's to be the most surprising, as I had figured he would understand why I had to go the most._

 _Ashley's eyes, pale yellow flickered in the Dusky Orange glow of the Sky, burnt holes into mine as she glared at me before demanding archly, "Why did it have to be you?"_

 _I raised an eyebrow at the stupid question, "Because all of you can't move as fast as I can through or over a Forest? Because I have the highest durability and am the most likely to survive or buy time for the rest of you to catch up? Because I wanted to?" I answered firmly, the answers holding the weight of my decisions in them._

 _My Leader simply lifted her hand and pointed over her shoulder with her Thumb, her Glare unwavering, "We have a professional Huntsman right here. He's the one who is supposed to do the dangerous stuff, he can move quicker than any of us, even you probably, and is the most experienced of us here. Why couldn't he do it?" I didn't answer her, mostly because I knew she wouldn't like it if I did, but partly because she made a good point. My eyes dropped as my frown faltered as I tried to think it through, and Ashley's face dipped down to maintain eye contact, "And because you went off on your own he didn't want to leave us behind, being a man down, and was forced to move at our speed."_

 _The frown slid off of my face entirely as I nodded, accepting that it wasn't the most well thought out move I could have made. My eyes came up to the somewhat relieved face of my Partner, as well as the now entirely relieved face of Cosma, who seemed to think that most of the Tension had left the conversation. "You didn't give us a chance to think it through, or to object," Roman interjected with an angry frown, "You just left. Left us behind. We're a team, alright?" He said as he stepped towards me to poke me in the chest with a finger, "And you're a part of it whether or not you want to be, got it?"_

 _I sighed, unable to even be mad at them before turning and beginning to walk down the Road, "Yeah, Yeah. I know that. I just gotta start thinking like it," I explained as the others fell in, with Raul watching the conversation silently, "I'm used to being by myself. So I don't think like I'm part of a unit. I'll work on it, I promise," I assured as I made sure to look each of them in the eye to show my sincerity._

 _Cosma walked up along my right side in between me and Roman with a smile before she dumped her Bag of supplies into my arms, "And we'll just have to work on being able to keep up with you," she jauntily sped up in her walk as the other two seemed to take her cue and dump their bags on me as well, "Seems like a fair enough trade to me, wouldn't you guys agree."_

 _The other two agreed with smiles in their voices, and they all disregarded the muffled curses that spewed from my lips as I adjusted their packs in my hands._

* * *

I returned back to the present as my mind came out of the Fog of repetitive work and I finished tying the last know of the Girl's Tent. "Ah, sweet!" Cosma said as she appeared at my elbow before unzipping the Flap of the Tent, "Ash, he's Done!" I rolled my eyes as she nearly dove into the tent, insulated and thick material to keep out the chill of the slowly freezing night.

"You're Welcome," I growled out as she ignored me entirely to enter the structure. I stood and turned towards the Small but bright Fire that was lighting and acting as the center of Camp, to see Ashley as she walked towards me with a plate in hand and a small smile on her face.

"She's just giving you grief," she confided in a stage whisper before handing over the plate. I grabbed the plate and winced minutely at the heat of the object as her hand slid out from under mine. I scowled at her as she traipsed towards the Tent as well, "And so am I~," she merrily informed me. I'm sure that had Raul been awake he would've been laughing himself silly in response to my predicament, as he had for most of the past few days.

I could only grumble under my breath as I moved towards the Fire to push a rock with my foot to serve as my chair before plopping down to start shoveling the simple meal of rice, beef, and stewed veggies into my mouth with only a piece of bread as a utensil. My mood began to clear up, as it always did when I ate, and my eyes fell upon the scattered pieces of metal that lay upon a cloth by the fire.

Roman sat in front of the Fire with a set of small tools in his hands and scattered about the area that he could reach easily, and his weapon was elongated in his lap with panels hanging off of the main body with extremely small wires now visible under the metal. My eyes squinted in consternation as I tried and failed to follow the bizarre green textures underneath that reminded me of hours spent over liquid metal and green plastic, hoping against hope that me and my fat, dumb fingers hadn't fucked up once again.

I was so overcome with _memories_ that I almost missed him looking up at me from his work and speaking, "At least _someone_ likes my food," He spoke whimsically replaced the pieces of his weapon methodically, and with an ease that suggested practice. Hands covered in oil darted about the makeshift work area to grab piece after piece and slide it into place, but he continued to speak to me, "The Girls said it was _bland_ ," he disclosed with a shudder, as though the word had wronged him in some way, "As though I could be expected to serve something excellent when I'm simply trying not to let Sand get in the Pot."

"Hnn," I grunted in confirmation around a mouthful of food, "Tastes good to me."

He looked over at me and pushed his glasses up the the bridge of his nose to level an unimpressed stare in my direction, "I'm certain that it does to you," he nodded in the direction of the Occupied tents with a small smile, "But to us civilized folk it is the same as eating paper that had at one time served a meal. The Flavor isn't exactly exploding out of the Food," he returned to his work for a moment to go about a small task that looked to require his fullest attention, while I looked down at the food in my Hands with a confused frown.

And after a momentary lapse of **[Instinct]** I realized that he was right, it did taste mostly bland without heightened senses. I shrugged before chowing down on the rest of the food, enjoying a fringe benefit of a mostly Combat Oriented Skill.

"The others are worried about you," Roman said casually once he was finished and collapsed his weapon down into its Travel Form. He placed it next to him on his Mat in the sand and looked up at me with calm and collected eyes and spoke once more, the even timber of his voice making it clear that he had thought what he was saying through, "They might not be the best at getting their point across though, and I know that you're one dense idiot so I thought I'd let you know."

"They're worried," I repeated as I looked back at the canvas structures before my eyes narrowed at his choice of words and turned back towards him, "But you aren't." It wasn't a question, it didn't need to be when I knew the answer.

"No," He confirmed as he pulled out his Notebook and began flipping through the pages, "Because it seems that I am the only one on this Team that actually trusts their Teammates."

"What makes you say that I don't trust you guys?" I inquired haphazardly, not really sure I wanted to know.

"You treat us like we're made of glass and try to do everything yourself," He responded easily and with certainty. I moved to defend myself but he held up a hand to stop me, "I know that you don't mean anything by it, that you've been doing this since you can remember, or that you were taught to do something similar. That doesn't matter to them, because they think that you do mean something by it," he shrugged helplessly before returning his gaze to the fire, "But they'll get over it once they understand. It might take a while, but they'll acclimate to your hardheadedness."

I snorted at the thought of anyone being able to adapt to my levels of stubbornness, but nodded the point. "I just want them to be safe, is that so hard to ask?" I sighed into the Chilled air, watching the tufts of steam that followed the words float into the night air.

He smiled ruefully in to the fire, "What you see as safe they see as coddled," he met my eyes one last time, "Which is how they've elected to treat you until you get the message. For instance; They've decided that you've been trying to hard with Guard Duty and have put you in time out," I blinked at him in confusion and he used the small amount of time to point towards the Tent I had erected for Roman to sleep in and bark out, "You've been up for days. Go get some sleep!"

I grumbled at him, but he looked mulish enough to argue his point, potentially waking the others and producing an even worse situation. I still argued my side of the point, "Look I know that somewhere along the line someone told you that a team is a group full of equals, right?" I waited for him to nod at me before continuing, "That's total horseshit. A team is full of people with different specialties and not a single one of them is truly equal in every circumstance. I'm pretty good out here in the Wilds, or in a frontier town, but the moment I step foot in a city or town I'm out of my depth. Too much stimuli and I have trouble focusing on what's important. But here, where a single change in the environment could spell death? I'm a goddamned _**pro**_ at sensing that."

"And we can't afford to have our 'Pro' guard dog lose his touch from sleep deprivation. Sleep. **Now**." Roman ordered like an irate nurse trying to get a patient to take his meds. I thought about telling him that I was immune to the effects of sleep deprivation, but as I no concrete evidence of that I instead decided to concede the point.

Didn't mean I liked it, though.

I growled as I walked by him and into the Tent before laying down in the unfamiliar structure in an attempt to avoid him yelling at me for sleeping outside in the frozen air.

The Canvas Tent smelled horrible to my senses that I couldn't turn off without disabling any warning system I had outside of my teammates, and even one more layer of security was worth smelling the sweat covered clothes and the irritating odor of Dust that permeated most of the items in the Tent.

Honestly, how hard was it to clean off tools properly?!

* * *

 **Quest Completed; [Birds of a Feather]**

 **-Informed an Outpost about the Flock of Griffons demise.**

 **Rewards; + 800 exp and + 0 Free Points!**

* * *

 **Quest Received; [Disappearing Act]**

 **-Locals have been disappearing in the southern Forest of Janub, investigate and report back once you have found the Cause!**

 **Rewards; + 500 exp and + 1 Free point for every Missing Local found (Dead or Alive).**

* * *

I waved away the Two screens with a Growl, internally annoyed at having earned no Free points from such an easy source while simultaneously being conflicted for earning any Exp for the Quest given that I hadn't even fought the Grimm in the first place. It was the Gamer in me, the one that had played text-based adventures in my stilted childhood, that revolted against the idea of being _given_ anything without earning it, but I easily justified it with the memories of the rescued townsfolk of Slurry.

Still left a bad taste in my mouth.

"Alright Kiddos!" Raul exclaimed as we walked down the Streets of the Large Village that surrounded the Outpost, "We got us a mission; about ten people, foragers and prospectors, went missing in the Forest South of Town, and we gotta find them and hopefully identify _why_ they went missing," He stopped and looked back at the group, which had me at the back of it holding all of the bags with a frown, "Now, I have a suspicion about this, but once again this is your Mission, not mine. Do as you will, and I'll follow you just to make sure you aren't gonna walk off a cliff or something."

Ashley nodded before turning towards me and asking imperiously, "Staín, which way is south?" I obliged as the others began to remove their equipment and packs from my shoulders, pointing in the direction of the Compass needle, and she nodded as she accepted the last pack, hers, with a cruel twist of the lips that may have been mistaken for a smile. "What a sense of Direction," she commented dryly, to which I shrugged in response without a sound.

"Sun's Out," I _explained_ , knowing full well that even without my strange Power I'd have figured it out somehow. She accepted that with a nod, as though she had assumed that was how I navigated, even though I had done so on overcast days and even at night without difficulty. The length that people went not to challenge an idea once it got in their head was kind of amazing.

"We'll split up in pairs, partner's of course, and search the woods that way," she explained as we made our way towards the entrance of the fairly barren Forest, "We should be close enough to the CCT outpost that our Scrolls should work fine, so if you find _anything_ call me or Austin and report it."

Cosma smiled and fired off a smart Atlesian Salute and responded in her ever chipper voice, "Yes ma'am!" before grabbing Roman by the elbow and moving towards the Most Eastern path in the woods, "We'll take this Path and any others that spread out from this one, Alright?"

Ashley and I narrowed our eyes at her, simultaneously suspicious of her all too helpful behavior, but unable to call her on anything.

We hadn't been here long enough for her to put anything into motion.

"Yes," Ashley spoke after a moment of staring the Grinning Girl in the Face, "That should be acceptable. But just to make sure, Mr. Newman will be Accompanying you."

Unexpectedly her grin deepened and turned a tad predatory as she nodded in assent, "Of course, of course. Meet back here before Sun down if we don't find anything?"

Ashley could only sigh in defeat, as whatever the Smaller Girl had planned wasn't something she could really do anything about. She nodded wearily and the trio moved off into the Bare Cedar Forest, with the Girl with Pink hair at the front as she marched the two more reluctant people behind her with a jaunty step.

We stood at the entrance to our path, watching them walk through the trees until they were hidden from sight by the Trunks of the White Trees.

"...I don't want to know," I decided spontaneously, realizing that if she were planning something that it was probably going to be aimed at me in her apparent irritation with me. I turned to my partner to see her shaking her head in annoyance.

"Neither do I," She declared before turning to meet my eyes with a small smile, "But I do believe that we have woods to investigate. Shall we get moving?" she asked rhetorically as we moved into the woods, immediately the already dull and cold light of the midday deep Winter Sun was halted by the Trees of the forest and any light was reflected up off of the snow and ice on the ground as we walked.

But I stood stock still as the world began to bleed together and form a new world in its place.

The color drained from the air in front of me as branches began to twist and meld together above me and the Trunks began to assemble into long lines almost as though they were corridors or hallways in the Forest. The sound of wind whipping through branches stopped as they solidified into a solid canopy a few feet above our heads. I cursed under my breath as my Minimap no longer showed the general area of the map and only the grey outlines of what my Senses could confirm.

* * *

 **Dungeon Found; [** _ **Alghabat Aljanubia**_ **]!**

 _ **Warning; Entering Dangerous Area!**_

 _ **Suggested Level: 28!**_

 _ **Enter? [Y/N]**_

* * *

After a moment of staring hard at the message I decided to give Ashley some bullshit reason for why she should be careful, but found her standing stock still beside me with a look of pure shock on her face as she stared ahead, into the Forest. I coughed, trying to gain her attention and wincing when she didn't so much as move a muscle beyond blinking into the snowing path. What was equally concerning was the waves of heat that seemed to blanket the area that we were standing in.

"Ashley," I called, doing my best not to let my growing concern color my voice.

Slowly her head began to turn about and inspect what I had assumed would still be just a stand of trees to her. She reached a hand out and touched a trunk of a tree with a look of wonderment on her face and scuffed her boot through the snow to reveal that Marble tiles had grown out from the ground without even disturbing the layer of snow on top. She looked back to the Tree trunk and her Aura flared as she tried in vain to burn through the material, recoiling in shock as a screen appeared under her hand, alerting me that it was an **[Invincible Object]** while she cradled her right hand in her left.

I stopped observing her and turned back the way we came and found that the way back way no longer there, replaced by a wall of Cedar Trees. My eyes returned their focus to the Warning Screen only to find a new message before the screen closed itself.

* * *

 _ **By interacting with the Dungeon with the application of Aura it has solidified and you have been placed inside. Good luck, Dungeoneer!**_

* * *

 **Dungeon Quest Received, [Dead on Arrival]!**

 _ **By entering a dungeon tied to a specific place or issue, you have instantly started the Quest associated with it. These are harder than most normal Quests, but have much higher rewards. And you've already "Accepted" the Quest. Good Luck Pup.**_

 **-? Have taken over ? located deep within the Forest, make your way there and deal with them.**

 **73/73 ? active.**

 **Rewards; + 2500 exp for completion, +25 per ? dealt with, ? Weapon, and + 10 Free points.**

 **Failure; Certain Death.**

* * *

" **Mother** _ **fucker**_ ," I growled as I scrambled to activate **[Instinct]** and map out the Dungeon as I quickly took in and accepted the Situation. Nothing I could hear was moving, and there was no breeze that flowed down the hall to follow and trace the edges. In this odd slice of reality there was nothing to smell or taste yet, as it seemed that the world had been a template for the Twisted image we were standing in. My eyes shot down to Ashley and the area of the ground that she was sitting upon and grimaced as I noticed that the Ice and Snow had stopped melting. It was just as Fake as the rest of this place.

"Y-you're seeing this too, right?" Ashley stammered hesitantly as her eyes stayed focused on the surroundings. I nodded harshly, and my effort in using **[Instinct]** was finally rewarded with sound to hear; the crunch of snow underfoot further down the Way and around a corner. Immediately I waved Ashley to stand, which she shakily did, and unfurled my weapon in response to the sound.

The Blips on my map were rapidly moving towards our location, and they weren't slowing down. There was a jangle in their step as well as the rustling of cloth to signify that we were most definitely up against Humans. As soon as they passed through the radius of my **[Detect Bloodlust]** Their dots switched from white to Red, and I growled lowly, a sound that seemed to shake the very ground I was stood upon.

"Get Ready," I growled as I began to move forward, towards the enemy, towards those that threatened us, "This is gonna get messy."

I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder, and turned to find frightened eyes staring at me incredulously from behind her glasses, "What are you talking about? _What is this?_ "

I frowned and calmly removed her hand from my shoulder before the memory returned to me, "Do you remember when I first saved you all those years ago? What the Food Gazelle was Like?"

For a quick moment there was confusion in her eyes before recollection drained it, "Almost exactly like this place. Shelves as tall as Redwoods, making winding passages that eventually led out of the store. I thought I was misremembering, that I had been in shock."

"Yes," I agreed tersely before yanking my head towards where we needed to go, "And just like then we have to do something to get out, fight our way out most likely. This place is _dangerous_ and we can discuss the how 'it shouldn't exist' after we're out in the clear, alright?" I intoned, and she nodded.

I turned back towards the Tunnel of Trees and began to run towards where the bend was, intent on giving Ashley the time she needed to come to her senses, and hopefully the sounds of combat would be enough to get her back up and running. The pounding of my feet mimicked my steady heartbeat and quickly drew me closer to my **prey**.

I tore around the corner, drawn close to the ground as I slid on snow and dirt that gave way underneath my feet, my teeth bared in what I had been assured by my teammates looked absolutely **feral** , and my weapons at the ready. My eyes zipped around their surprised faces, taking in their nametags and finding only grim satisfaction when they were all over my level by at least five levels. My pistol bucked in my hand twice before I came to a stop, each shot hitting and piercing the closest Enemy's Aura with ease and sending the Robed man tumbling through the air under the Force of the Shot. As he fell past the rest of the group their Rifles turned on me, but I was upon them as they opened fire.

I activated my **[Aura Shielding]** over my entire body, the barrier shattering upon the first projectile that hit and the resulting explosion driving away the rest that were still in the air. My Chain slammed into the chest of one of the half dozen men, the explosion of a dull white color signifying the breaking of his Aura, with crack as I jumped and pulled the Weapon into the rest of the men. I felt my back slam into the Ceiling as my enemies were flung towards the bend around which I had first appeared.

A line of Orange light shot from around the Corner, piercing through each of the enemies in a straight line like a Laser, that exploded into a gout of Flames before they could even Scream. I landed on the enemy I had shot in my opening, who had been trying to run away while I had been focused on his compatriots, and slammed my fist down on the back of his head in a vicious and sickening display of my own strength, reducing the until recently functional Skull into a paste made of linen and grey matter.

Globes of fire the size of my head zipped around the corner and quickly dispatched the stragglers that had managed to survive her initial attack. Aura was ignored as the fire quickly took hold of their long billowy robes and made quick work of dispatching them, eliciting shrieks of terror that shattered the otherwise Silent air of the Dungeon. They hit the ground a few moments later, just as silent as the rest of the Dungeon as they had the oxygen sucked from their lungs by the fire that surrounded them.

I let loose a rumbling growl as I stood and turned towards my partner and saw her looking at the burning bodies with a face that seemed to be etched out of stone. From the pyre the still active rounds fired and pinged around the area before the area fell silent and with a single raised hand the flames were extinguished. I made eye contact with her, wondering how she'd take the dirtier part of fighting the good fight, and was pleased to see none of the weakness that in any other situation may have been confused for being a good person.

No sympathy for those we had _fought_ , only a cold acceptance, as though she had known that it would one day come to this. A very realistic outlook on her career choice.

Exactly what I had expected of her.

She stalked forward, her pair of Piandao glowing a dull orange in the nearly blue air of the Dungeon, and her face was stoic as she walked towards, but I saw the small part of sadness in her at having to kill for the first time nonetheless. Some Threw up, some became hysterical, but those that had decided or had been forced to fight from a very young age usually understood that it would eventually be necessary and accepted it with more grace than those that grew up far more sheltered or with peaceful intentions.

I turned back towards the path that we would be traveling down, already detecting the flurry of motion that our encounter had caused. It seems that we would be expected to make an appearance.

"Let's Move," she said quietly as she stalked past me, "This place is making me sick."

I couldn't help but agree, trying not to gag on the **[Instinct]** enhanced smell of burning bodies as I turned to follow my Partner further into the Dungeon.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])**

 **Lvl 18: 920/1800 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 30618/30618 HP Regen: 144 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1488/1488, Stm Regen: 56 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 5328/5328, Ap Regen: 87.6 Ap/Sec**

 **Str: (105) 110**

 **Dex: 34**

 **Con: (135) 142**

 **Agi: 8**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 73**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 683**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 15939**

 **Pistol Atk: 257**

 **Def: Phys; 76%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Enduring];** _**I can still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 1% more resistant to Debuffs for every point of Res.**

 **Once per Minute, upon hitting 0 Hp or lower return to 1 Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

* * *

 _Alright then,_

 _This chapter is pretty obvious in its intentions; to describe the effects of having a free wheeling and verifiably crazy partner/teammates. Not everyone is as hard headed and unaffected as Austin is, after all, as they are only human._

 _Unfortunately for their respective sanities, Dealing with our Protagonist for an extended period of time has a degrading effect on one's normality and affectability. There is a reason for why Austin ends up in and dragging others into crazy situations other than I'm writing an adventure Story, that will be explained later on in the story, but I find that these things should be set up early._

 _Imagine that you have a roommate who is constantly getting attacked by wildlife (As I often am) and you don't believe him when he says it because he says it a lot, boy who cried wolf style. Then you go for a walk with him and you are suddenly be chased by a pack of feral dogs. You may or may not be affected by the stupidity that is your roommate's life._

 _Anyways, short Author's Note this Chapter._

 _As always, Read and Review if you got something to say._

 _I try to respond to reviewers, even those that simply wish me the best every Update._

 _Jericho Out._


	18. Level 1: Part 9

_Interlude A_

* * *

Deep green eyes surveyed the Impromptu camp, the suntanned and weathered skin on his face was that of a man who had spent most of his life in the desert, and the Flowing White robes of linen cloth that wrapped around his body were uniquely suited to harsh climates. The snow drifting down in front of his eyes was ignored in favor of supervising his subordinates as they went about repairing or maintaining their Tents and preparing their weapons in the light snowfall.

The entirety of the Vacuoan sect of the White Fang from which they had hailed had all deserted their former lives and vows, dropping their beliefs and faiths to replace them with faith in their new leader, their new savior. As his hooded eyes roamed across the sight of his men, who were nervous being this far away from their protector and the main mass of their forces, he tried his best to emulate how he knew the Master must have looked in his prime; He stood tall in his billowy robes and held his staff in a firm grip while showing no discomfort or displeasure, with his face crafted in the carefully neutral face that matched the Master's voice.

"Verd, sir!" called one of the Faunus dialing in the Radio equipment, "We're all set over here, Sir!" He was a young Frog Faunus, whose heritage had manifested as a tongue that could be shot out at will in a very fast but otherwise useless manner, and more importantly was named Dart.

"Thank you, Dart," Verd said in a calm and collected tone as he inclined his head towards the young man. He brightened and saluted hastily before putting his headset back on and returning to his work. Verd smiled inwardly as he began to move away, glad to see that his insistence on learning and using the names under his command was having the effect he wanted on them. They all looked at him with smiles and resolute faces, even those less inclined to violence saw him favorably.

' _It wouldn't do for the Savior's Right hand man to be disliked, after all_ ', he thought with a smirk that was wiped from his face quickly.

The crackle of the Radio equipment erupted from behind before he made it very far, and his keen Faunus hearing, as well as everyone in the Clearing within thirty feet turned towards the Small Communications Tent. Dart held a hand against the side of his headphones and squinted as he turned a dial on the ramshackle Radio set before the Static cleared from the Voice calling in. "Belay that 1-2, you were comin in fuzzy. Repeat your Last 1-2, Over," the young Comms Officer spoke clearly into his microphone.

' _1-2,_ ' Verd thought as he walked back to the table and stood by him while he leaned on his Staff, ' _One of the Lookouts we had positioned in town? Contacting us already?_ '

The speaker crackled to life once more, the young woman's voice quiet but clear as she spoke, "We have incoming. It looks like a group of Hunters. Possibly Trainees and a mentor. They look pretty young," she spoke in short bursts of words, as though she were trying to avoid speaking as much as possible. ' _She's probably in a crowded area,_ ' Verd Thought to himself.

"Confirm 1-2, Hunters incoming? Over," Dart repeated with a nervous look shot at his superior, who made a point of looking unconcerned with the news. The speakers sparked to life once in confirmation before they quieted down once more. Immediately the Faunus spread about the Area began to speak in hushed tones that quickly turned to feverish whispers as they began to panic about the situation, but Verd had other priorities than panicking.

He reached over and took the handheld Microphone from Dart's hand with ease, and began to speak into it, "1-2, did you get a good look at the Hunters?" he saw Dart waving about something and rolled his eyes and clicked once more in the button, "Over."

"Not a very good one, Sir. They walked into town around noon and then immediately went into the CCT Outpost," there was a pause that lasted longer than the others, and Verd thought for a moment that the operative had forgotten to hold down the button to talk, but they spoke up once more, no longer as confident or concise as before, "Sir, I don't quite know how to describe this, but I'll try anyways. Of the five, I spent the most time observing the Oldest, and obviously most experienced, of them trying to get a read on him. He looked calm and collected, but entirely ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. He's a veteran Huntsman, I'm almost certain."

A moment passed in silence before Verd spoke once more, "So there is a veteran huntsman among them and he held your focus. What's so unusual about that?" he questioned the young woman, hoping to at least make her feel that he wasn't as worried as she was about this. Certainty was the remedy for doubt after all.

"If I had chosen to observe him in the first place, I'd agree with you, sir. But I was observing him because he was the furthest away from the rest of the group," another Pause before the young Sheep Faunus continued in a hissing whisper, "Away from _him_ , the one that noticed me. The moment I turned and did my best to reign in my anger at the sight of the Huntsmen his eyes caught mine."

The camp was silent around the Communications tent, before the radio came back to life for the final time.

"It was like looking down the barrel of a gun. He saw me watching them and pointed directly at me, and his Teammate nodded at his motion as though to say that she had seen me as well. Then they moved towards your position," the implications began to mount in his mind even as his soldiers began to panic around him, ' _Why didn't he confront her, why did they come, why did-_ ' but the Lookout crystallized their fears before signing off, "Sir, he knows we're here. And he's coming your way."

There was a moment as the words pierced and entered the minds of the Men, and Verd quickly clamped down on the fear that threatened rise and overcome his rational thoughts. His hand raised to point at a few of the men who he had known to be preparing for guard duty patrolling the forest, "You are to gear up and head down the trail to buy the rest of us time to prepare. Do not worry, Huntsmen tend to leave their enemies alive if they aren't grimm," He placed a hand on the nearest Soldier's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile, "Do not fear, rejoice. This is your time to serve the Savior."

Immediately the words had an affect, the faces of the faunus smoothing over as he fired off a crisp salute before turning and barking out orders to his squadmates.

Verd quickly made his way towards his tent with a determined stride, ' _Good Luck to you, young one, and to all of us as well_.' His mind swiftly brought forth memories of the small mining town on the southern border of the Frozen Wastes nearly a week ago, and the terror and doubt that filled him as the scene replayed in his mind. He shook his head as the Red eyes turned upon him, ' _For I believe we may need it._ '

"The rest of you gear up," He spoke aloud as the remaining soldiers pulled out weapons and equipment from their Tents. Green eyes fell upon the object of their mission, the Stone Building looking so unassuming in the tranquil plain, covered head to toe in moss and vines. Old stone and older script was scribbled around the entire structure, or as far as they had managed to remove the Vegetation anyway. The massive stone doors, easily twenty feet tall themselves, had yet to even budge from their resting places, but he knew that it was what they had been searching for.

He ignored it for now and returned to the present, and the many sets of eyes pointed in his direction, "Prepare for a siege. We have hunters incoming."

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

Hardened Blue eyes roved the Forest, rough and weathered hands stroked the handles of the axes at his waist, and feet tread lightly and without sound over the forest floor. His ears twitched with every noise in the forest, sounds that were mostly made by his two wards as they tried and failed to move quietly across the Snow. There was no breeze or the scurrying of animals that usually existed in nature, and it was putting him off of his game.

The feeling wasn't helped by the Trail of Blood that they were tracking through the frozen underbrush.

They had happened upon the site nearly ten minutes ago, a small pool of blood in front of a patch of snowberry bushes along with a long trail of frozen snow indicating drag marks. And as Grimm didn't need to eat or store food or bodies that left only one conclusion.

"You got service yet?" Raul barked, breaking the relative silence of the afternoon forest. Cosma started and nearly tripped over a root in her surprise before she shook her head. He grunted in frustration, before turning back to the trail he was following, noting with concern that yet another trail had connected with the one he was following from where other bodies had been brought down the same path.

Boot prints were alongside the slides of ice as they flowed down hill and weaved through the more open part of the forest that may or may not have been a trail without the snow. At least three distinct prints showed up, but they crossed over and smashed over each other too often for Raul to tell. He was forced to slide his feet through the snow to make sure that there were no traps laid out in front of him, and it was irritating him more than he would like to admit to move as slow as the students he had to take care of.

There was a group of people who looked to be hunting people in these woods that had been here within a few days, and **He couldn't get in contact with his Daughter.**

The thought threatened to tear from his throat and lead him sprinting through the Woods in an attempt to find her, and only the thoughts of the two children that were following him truly stopped him from doing so. In his head he knew that Ashley was advanced for her age, driven in a way that scared him sometimes, and logically speaking could handle most humans in the world and out run the ones that she couldn't.

Days, weeks, even years of time spent training her on the uses of dual weapons, paired blades, dust use, tactics, you name it and he had taught her it at least in passing over the nine years they had been around each other. Maybe it had started off as a favor to her mother, but it had eventually turned into fatherly love and care. She had been well trained, well equipped, and deadly smart to begin with. She had every reason in the world to survive and thrive, but _goddamn_ did it hurt to think that he wouldn't be there for her.

He grimaced as he realized why he had such doubts as to her safety; Her Partner.

The kid was a monster in the truest sense, physically imposing and strong. Able to do things with only his body and mind that put veteran hunters to shame, but somehow lacked the ability to channel Aura in any conceivable frame of control. Huntsmen had been taught for millennia that the nature of one's Aura was a guidepost for their soul, the very thing that made someone an individual.

And his was unruly, explosive, and **Violent**. There was no doubt in Raul's mind that the kid was a monster, especially after the little display in Slurry that the young man's team had so casually waved off in their anger. The bodies of men and women lying dead in craters and covered in blood. Their deaths had not been gentle or swift, with pinpoint precision or feline grace that defines huntsmen the world over, but with the unnatural force and ferocity he had only seen in Grimm.

And the entirely unaffected look he had been wearing when they had found him said that he wasn't overly concerned with it, and that scared Raul more than anything else.

"Pick up the pace," he said in a level and low voice, "We gotta find your teammates, as fast as possible."

At the very least, he had a daughter to protect.

* * *

 _End of Interlude_

* * *

" **Left!** " came the call from my partner, and I wasted no time in spinning to my left, unsurprised to find an explosive being hurled our way. My hand shot out with a thunderclap and a wave of air from the punch sent it careening off course landing to our left by twenty feet before detonating in a pillar of fire and dirt. I grit my teeth as my Eardrums tore once again and directed **[Second Wind]** to the spot. I turned further to my left and popped off a few shots at one Assailant that had thought to flank us in the shadows of the tunnels of wood and snow. The second and third shots hit him in the chest, staggering him enough that he couldn't dodge my **[Lunge]** that planted my knee into his chest with a loud and wet crunch before sending him tumbling away from me.

I took a moment to apply **[Second Wind]** across my body to heal the various holes and gashes that were ripped into my body, most due to shrapnel from grenades and other IED's. As it turned out, Explosive Damage was affected by the Wis Stat and wasn't counted under physical damage and bypassed almost all of my defenses. This had nearly cost me a leg after I had stepped on a mine ten minutes into the Dungeon.

The Scream of Horror from Ashley had quickly been followed by a look of grim fascination as **[Second Wind]** and **[Osteogenesis]** had quickly replaced the battered leg, and I was moderately pleased to be able to prove that I was indeed as hard to kill as Taylor had described.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck, the ones that hadn't yet been burnt off at least, stand up straight and threw myself to the ground in a roll as my partner lashed out with her Weapons with strikes that sent out scything flames to strike any enemy lucky enough not to be cut down by her. In the clearing there were less than ten of the contingent of thirty that had ambushed us as we made our way through the forest, and they were quickly being dispatched.

Ashley was manipulating the flames coming off of her weapons so that they stayed burning long after the melting snow should have put them out, literally fueling them with only her aura when nothing was left to burn. She had corralled the remaining soldiers into a forty by forty foot area, where they were trying to lay down heavy bursts of machine guns around the trunks of trees that acts as pillars for the branch canopy over head.

" **Make a Hole!** " I bellowed as I ran past Ashley, who obliged by letting the flames I was running towards flicker low enough for me to pass through without catching fire once more. I rushed through as people began to yell and rush through the opening, only to be met by my fist. The moment I was through the wall of Flames roared higher in a show of strength, and probably a bit of red dust to keep them going, and I let out a roar tinged with the power of **[Panic!]** while activating **[Project Bloodlust]** and blanketing the entire area in its effect.

Most of the Deserters stopped firing for a moment and I sprinted towards their position, and in such a small space hesitation was the same thing as signing someone's death certificate. **[Thundering Blows]** empowered by the Stamina that I regenerated in a second was enough to completely shatter the Aura barriers of these men, and a second blow would often be enough to knock them out of the fight completely. My leg slammed down on top of the Knee of the first man bringing the join to the ground under the force of the blow as his Aura broke and fell apart, before I slammed my fist into his jaw. I stomped over his body, barely slowing as the body fell in a shower of blood and torn cloth behind me, I ignored the gunfire that pelted and pierced my body being in favor of bearing down on my next target.

My weapon scythed out to wrap around his arms at the elbows with a **[Grapple]** and I pulled viciously on the chain to yank him off his feet and towards me. I stepped forward and planted a Punch into his face, before swinging the limp body like a flail upon his comrades. I spun in a circle before a flick of the wrist unwrapped the Chain from the Deserter, throwing all eight of the men into the Soulfire that burned without fuel. They screamed as one, even as any ammo and explosives they had on their bodies exploded in the fire, for a short moment before the air was stolen from their lungs, and I heard the guttering flames die down.

The Snow on the Floor of the small clearing hadn't melted even as the fire had burnt atop it, but the fighting had sent it tumbling about and revealing the odd tiled floor that existed under the fake snow. The odd abstract detail took my focus as I distanced myself from the entirely avoidable deaths had I not brought this **[Game]** into the forest. I turned towards Ashley, who mirrored my own scowl as she made her way towards me over the charred grass. "They made their choice the same as you made yours," I declared as I wound the Chain back into its place on my arm, more for my partner than myself.

I had long ago hardened myself against the horrible actions that might be needed to protect my people.

She scowled and scuffed at the blackened tile underneath her Boot before her golden Amber eyes came up to meet mine, "Just because you know that you have to do something doesn't mean you have to like it," she explained morosely before nodding her head towards the way we needed to continue moving, "Let's just keep moving, alright?"

I grunted my agreement, following after her as I kept an eye on the Hp Bar that was slowly ticking up from just about half on my HUD. After it got back over seventy five percent I switched lanes to observe the Minimap, before reaching out to Grab Ashley by the shoulder.

* * *

 **Warning; Powerful enemy ahead!**

* * *

My eyes sharpened as the Screen dismissed itself, and immediately what I saw had my hackles raised. We were at the edge of a clearing, with a few sparse trees the only cover in between us and an encampment of Tents surrounding a towering stone structure that looked ancient and cracked. The Clearing was open to the sky, with the sun quickly lowering to the Treetops that formed the barrier of the Clearing and marked a clear end to the hardtop of our Prison.

"Something wrong…?" She asked quietly, her eyes slowly and carefully watching the clearing as well, and from the tensing I felt under my hand, she had noticed something wrong on her own. The clearing was massive, and a light dusting of Snow was on the ground, this being natural snow and unchanged by the **[Game]** left melted boot prints in the snow that cataloged the Foot traffic.

A scoff escaped her lips as she gently removed her shoulder from my hand, "Are you honestly so concerned about more of these simpletons?" I spared her a moment of my survey to send her an exasperated look, "We just fought a fully armed squad of Troops and came out unharmed."

"Just because I healed the damage doesn't mean it wasn't an issue," I returned quietly before I realized what was so wrong.

There wasn't any ambient noise. No birds, no wind, nothing. Simply a clearing that sat undisturbed, clearly waiting for us to make a move.

I let my eyes roam over the camp and I wasn't surprised to find that the place was mostly deserted. Buildings, proper structures made of wood and Metal, were scattered among canvas tents surrounding A thirty foot tall cube, covered in Greenery and vines that tracked up and down its sides. There was a single corner that was cleared of vegetation to reveal blue scribbles that I assumed were script of some kind but impossible to perceive without getting closer.

I turned to Ashley, with a warning already in my mouth, before I realized that she was no longer standing next to me and had begun to make her way towards the Camp. I cursed under my breath as I moved after her, waiting for my Ears to fully heal, as it was a much more complicated organ than a muscle or skin it took longer to heal correctly, and let me use **[Instinct]** at its full potential. A wealth of information came from my nose, what was still floating in the air and how long it had probably been there, but it wasn't nearly as good of a sense to use for Spatial awareness as Hearing.

Hearing was much more in the present.

And more importantly, I could see exactly what she was making her way towards; A robed figure sat before a campfire in the middle of the Site. I began my sluggish run to catch up to her as she briskly made her way there and only managed to catch up to her once she was in front of the person.

I scanned his nametag while silently pulling up the active **[Quest]** surrounding this forest, to use as much of the information I could to come out of what was obviously a Major Boss Fight.

* * *

 **[Bosco Verd]**

 **[Level 35 Seer]**

 **[Eye of the Tiger]**

* * *

 **Quest; [Dead on Arrival]**

 **-** _ **The Deserters**_ **Have taken over** _ **A big mossy Rock**_ **? located deep within the Forest, make your way there and deal with them.**

 **14/73 Deserters active.**

 **Rewards; + 2500 exp for completion, +25 per Deserter dealt with, ? Weapon, and + 10 Free points.**

 **Failure; Certain Death.**

* * *

"Hmm," came the deep rumble from the Robed figure, whose long and slender hand curled around a Staff of Gnarled wood, "Wayward Travelers, Perhaps? Why have you come here, to this Holy Place?"

"Because people went missing," Ashley replied, quickly darting her eyes over to mine in a signal to stay alert, "And then Men wearing outfits eerily similar to yours attacked us."

I had to give it to her, she was nothing if not concise when she needed to be.

He chuckled and leaned his head upwards, letting me spy a single Green eye from within the folds of the encompassing garment as it looked out upon us. His spine straightened and his hands went from holding onto his Stave to leaning on it as though it were nothing more than a cane, the position looking entirely too hostile for my liking. "So you fought through all of my guards, my priests, simply because some humans got lost in the woods?" he let the words hang in the air, as though they were meant to convey something.

I ignored them.

"Do not lie to me, Seer," I spoke simply, hands sliding into the Pockets of my Jacket to settle into a casual posture. He stopped moving, and the aura of cheeriness, maybe even naive joy, dropped away at my words, "I count almost seventy Tents out here, and we only fought around sixty men on our way here. Some seem to be missin', don't they?" I mean, the reasoning was total _Bullshit_ , but whatever got the job done I suppose.

I smirked lightly as the Icon on my HUD that told me of my current Debuff **[Deafened]** , disappeared. There was an audible pop as my Eardrums finally finished knitting themselves back to their original states and with it my clarity suddenly came back in a rush. Noises that had been absent before now stood out clear as day to my senses; Heartbeats, the shuffling of cloth, and the far off sound of footfalls as well.

Arrayed around us in a circle were the remaining Deserters, hiding in piles of Cloth and under boxes to look as inconspicuous as possible. I nodded to each and every one of them, counting out loud as I did so, before I landed on the Robed man suddenly still in his seat with a quiet but forceful, "Fourteen. Now that we've established that I know where they are, and that it isn't in their best interest to try and ambush us, how about we try and talk this through, shall we?"

There was silence around the Camp as Ashley gripped the Handles of her Weapons, and the so far silent Ambushers began to shuffle in their positions nervously. A hand was raised by the Holy Man, looking and sounding much less confident, "Stand, My children. No use hiding now," Then as they began to extricate themselves from their positions he turned to me with a shrewd look on his face, "Mighty Perceptive for a Human, I must say."

I raised an eyebrow at the ring of riflemen that were now closing us in with their rifles bared and aimed in our direction, but it was better than if we had been blindsided. Now I could feel the Heat radiating off of my partner as she realized the Danger of the situation, because an ambush was the death of any hunter, whether by Grimm or People. Her Semblance may have been amazing, but it would only help if she had the warning to activate it. She turned herself subtly to be able to see more of the people, all the while not removing her hands from her weapons.

I, in turn, regarded the Robed figure instead, letting her be my early warning detection system. "For a Human?" I thought about the statement before nodding my head in agreement, "Who said I was human, though? And, for the record, I need to know if you had anything to do with the missing people," I added as an afterthought, and I ignored the elbow jabbed into my side.

His head inclined to the left, as though in wonder, "You do have the look of an animal, brother, and you definitely don't smell like a Human, but it is usually much more obvious," He reached a hand up to his hood and removed it, revealing a pair of feline ears on top of his head of brown hair that rested upon his tanned skin. His face was long and thin, with high cheekbones and a pointy chin, looking almost ethereally pretty, like some woodland Elf that ended up in this half frozen forest. His forest green eyes met mine and he smiled a nervous thing, the tension in Ashley obviously putting him on edge, "As you can see, I am a Tiger Faunus, and obviously the better of Humans. Of course I stole them away when they drew too close. As a good shepherd, what else was I supposed to do but protect my Children from dangerous Beasts? Now, what do you claim to be; Faunus or _Human_?"

A vicious smile pulled itself across my face, the left edge of my lip pulling up to reveal my mouth of sharp teeth, enhanced to a further extent by **[Osteogenesis]** , "I am a Wolf," I enunciated with a rumble that reverberated through my Mouth and Throat, "And I have come to cull your Herd." I felt a laugh trying to force itself from my throat in the Growl's place, as the Joke was just too great to pass up on.

And technically, I was neither.

He chuckled and stood, limbering up as he did so, "A wolf, eh? No need to lie to me, Human. I know the signs, and I know when they are not there. You are as human as the girl that stands beside you, but I will call you as you like anyways," He spread his arms wide, the long limbs dragging the robes up to form a set of linen wings that stood out in the Dusk and Firelight and he laughed when he spoke once more, "Well let's see how well a Mangy Mutt like yourself holds up against a King of the Jungle." A dark Green aura erupted from his skin, coating him and his weapon in it leaving only his lighter Robes to be seen easily, "You fought those I sent against you and spied the hidden before they could jump upon your open and waiting backs. **I was tasked by the Savior to protect this Holy sight. Come and fight us, if you wish to dissuade us.** "

There was a battlecry that came from the Riflemen trained on us that was followed by the eruption of a a pillar of Fire from my Left. She would be able to maneuver herself in that space, and be able to choose a direction to move in without anyone being able to tell and react in time before she was on them. She would be able to carve a streak through the Riflemen, who in their defense were spaced quite far apart in a way that would limit how quickly they would be attacked. Their guns would be able to empty there Magazines in about three seconds, and if she wasn't able to be seen for most of it, then she would be safe. She had protections, her smaller frame, and skill on her side.

I had none of those things.

Nine of the Thirteen Riflemen ignored the Ball of Conflagration, and aimed their Weapons at me, the person who had sniffed them out and happened to have looked scarier.

Which was just _great_.

The Rifles they had held fifty rounds per Magazine, and fired about fifteen rounds per second, which each did a measly sixty damage to me. Which was barely enough to penetrate my **[Iron Skin]** , but that was all it took to do damage. Now, had that been a single guy, it wouldn't have been that bad. But Nine of them?

* * *

 **Damage calculation; 61 per Bullet, 15 per second, 9 men.**

 **8235 Damage per Second.**

* * *

" **Fuuuck!** " I yelled out in pain as over a hundred bullets slammed into my body, knocking off a fifth of my Health in a second. I launched myself up, hearing the whizzing of bullets as they passed under me and the cries of shock as I swerved into the air. **[Smackdown]** activated at the apex of the Jump, the cone of air resistance that constituted the attacks growing like a shield under me as I fell, directing bullets away from as I fell like an anchor through water.

I unhooked the end of my Chain as I fell on top of a rifleman with an almighty crash, flattening multiple tents and the ground around us as well. My weapon swept up and around to extend to its full length, all twenty feet of it spinning in a deadly circle around me. I twisted and stepped towards the nearest rifleman before Yanking my arm towards his position. My weapon swung true, and would have dealt with him easily had a Green blur not interrupted the strike. The Seer was suddenly there, throwing his Aura out like bullets; little shots of Aura and Dust that flew through the air, and struck me as though a small explosion.

They were ignored in favor of keeping my aim true and my attack meaningful. The metal links crashed into his upraised staff, which gave enough resistance for the weapon not to act like a crushing weapon and more like a bola.

The end wrapped around both the Seer and Rifleman, who were too surprised to do much of anything save be pulled towards my oncoming **[Thundering Blow]**. The Punch connected solidly with the glowing green figure who weathered it with an admirably, but the force of the blow transferred through him and into the unfortunate soul crushed against his back. The Deserters Aura didn't hold up against the onslaught and broke in a crescendo of white light before I heard his neck snap from the whiplash of my attack. I blocked the arm of the Tiger Faunus, who looked positively wroth, as he swung his Stave like a cudgel with the force of a cannon shot with a kicked into his bicep.

I then grabbed him by the front of his robe and threw him like a sack of grain.

I turned towards another Rifleman who had been rushing towards me while reloading and took a huge step, and hurled my makeshift Ammo at him, and the robed figure crashed into him as though he were shot out of a cannon and they both crashed to the ground in a heap of limbs.

I staggered when a Bullet rang against my skull like a bell, and fumbled around until I managed to pull out my Pistol from its holster and aim down sights at the man. Before I could pull the trigger a Flaming sword sliced through his Chest, exploding into flames once it passed through to cook the two deserters that had been retreating behind him. I hopped backwards as a familiar piece of Wood passed through where I had been standing and raised my gun to pop off three shots. He weaved his way through them as though they had been standing still, leaving behind a shimmering green Afterimage as he moved towards me with a vengeful visage.

There was little I could do except instinctively activate my Aura Shield to stop the Weapon that swung around at the speed of sound and struck me in the sternum.

Then the world went White-

* * *

Amber eyes followed the Green blur as it shot across the clearing, picking its steps as it made its way through the gunfire towards her partner. With wide eyes she could only watch, her eyes able to follow the motion but her body altogether too slow to respond or stop it from happening, as the leader of the Robed men slammed his Aura and Dust infused staff into Austin's Sternum. To her surprise and horror the blow caused an explosion and shockwave that incinerated most of the surroundings to ash and tatters. The blow lifted the dense man off of his feet and had enough strength to send him rolling away into the destroyed Tents behind him in a display of strength that ended in a pile of rolled and tangled sheets.

She narrowed her eyes in thought and ran the flat of her right hand blade down the edge of her left, an action that elicited sparks for her Semblance to take a hold of. She walked forward towards the now panting man, continuing to use her Swords like a tinderbox the entire way. The sparks all fell like lead instead of floating into the air as they normally would, to hit the Downed tents that she was stepping over. She saw the moment he noticed what was happening, as his shoulders tightened and his neck sloped down as he prepared to charge her.

The calculations all ran in her head, what would happen if she swung or ducked or did _anything at all_ , but it was forgotten immediately when he shot towards her like a Dark green Missile, the coloring that would have made seeing it had the battle not been in the middle of a snowy field now making it stand out to her sight. She swung horizontally and pushed her soul into the strike, and even when he diverted course further left the Blast from the fires that she had set rode on the strike and went further to clip his robe.

He continued moving as he pulled the now burning garment from his body and tried his best to dodge the Blasts of Soulfire that were being launched in his direction. Globes of Aura and Dust were thrown her way, but most were swatted out of the air with the flats of her blades before they came within a dangerously close proximity or cut in half to explode harmlessly in front of her. She danced and spun to avoid the faster and smaller aura projections that the man sent her way, and with every turn she used the movement to send a wave of fire and ash towards him.

Herding him where she wanted him.

She jumped out of the way of a significantly large projectile and rolled into a crouch where she swung both of her blades up and out, creating two lines of Fire that cut off his easier routes of escape. The man stopped moving and cursed, before glowing brighter than before and beginning to shape his Aura into a sphere as large as the Stone Monolith that stood behind him. He held it aloft in his hand that wasn't holding his Staff, and he cackled his madness with a manic glee. " **As long as The Gift of the Loach flow through me, I shall remain untouchable. I shall remain powerful, and I shall become victorious! You are nothin-** "

A hand erupted from the Pile of Cloth and Linen that he was standing upon, a large and bloody hand that bore the scars of many wounds over long years, and gripped the man's Ankle so hard that Ashley heard it crack from over fifty feet away. His feverish eyes were ripped from hers to look at his undoing, and she took the moment to smile.

He fell to a knee as the hand used him as leverage to pull the rest of the Imposing young man from his fabric prison. A very haggard Austin pulled himself from the depths of the sheets, looking roughed up, bloody and **Pissed**.

* * *

 **3119/30618 Hp,**

 **831/5328 Ap,**

* * *

 **[Winded] Status Removed.**

* * *

I could only cough hoarsely in response, even as the now broken ankle of my Quarry tried to futilely removes itself from my grasp.

I was honestly just glad I could hear him coming. The Explosions had helped.

My other hand extricated itself from the Canvas depths and slammed the Pocket knife into the knee of the Tiger Faunus that stood above me, and I was annoyed when it didn't pierce flesh and instead only rebounded with a loud _bong_. The stave came down at the speed of sound and hit me square in the forehead, but this time I was smart enough _to not explode myself_.

Instead I was removed from the Pile of debris quite forcefully, dragging me back down to two thousand Health as I slammed into the ground with a groan. I pulled myself to my feet, and found a flickering ball of Dust and Aura Tearing up the Ground as it honed in on me. I launched up and over the thing as it exploded, riding the shockwave into the air with a few uncontrolled flips. I righted myself as I hit the Zenith of my ascent, and rode gravity downwards.

I landed fist first on the Raggedly breathing man, no longer robed and instead wearing only baggy pants, knocking him end over end with **[Smackdown]**. He landed out of his roll in a skid before twirling his Staff and once more Glowing Green. Having had enough of that _Fuckery_ I pulled my pistol and a few spare Ammo Cartridges and hurled them towards his face. He tried to back away from the thrown improvised explosive, but a wall of red hot flame appeared behind him to cut off escape.

"Dodge this," I muttered with a wince as I pulled the trigger, successfully hitting the Magazine in the middle of the three. His eyes widened and he tried his best to weave through the Bulletstorm that erupted around him, but succeeded only in staying in place long enough for me to pin him down. My hand closed on his shoulder as he twirled away from the explosion and I shoved as much Aura as I could into the Limb.

It was a battle of Wills between our Auras as I tried to use **[Shatter]** that lasted only a moment. A single screen popped up briefly before it was just as quickly dismissed.

* * *

 **Ability contested, base [Aura]!**

 **Austin; 73 Res. Bosco Verd; 44 Res.**

 **[Shatter] Effect imposed at 1.66 Cost!**

* * *

I could feel the brief sensation of the Peaceful meadow filled with green grass and a happy sky before my Aura made its presence known. The Violent Energy surged forth from my hand and clamped down on the Bone and Flesh under my palm, imposing the same Restless and aimless energy that filled my Aura to the brim in one loud and shattering Explosion.

The Man was shot from my grasp as the Skill went off, but not before I had the satisfaction of feeling his shoulder explode into bloody bits. To his credit he immediately got to his feet, but I could tell that he wouldn't be fighting anytime soon.

"This shall not go unpunished," He breathed raggedly as he held his Shattered arm in his other Hand. His eyes met mine, and there was a flaky quality to it that hadn't been there before the fight, like he had been falsely assured of his victory and had now had his illusion shattered before his eyes. He coughed as the Blood began to run down his Arm from the jagged mess that made up his Shoulder, "The Loach will not forget this transgression, _Mutt_."

I stepped towards him, and Chuckled darkly when he immediately stepped backwards in fear, or perhaps caution was more accurate for him. I smiled a vicious smile at him, the same one I had owned since my childhood when it was given to me by Nan, "And I shall not forget his, sending his minions to do his dirty work. Killing villagers in the name of some Stone Box. How Scary he must be," I concluded with more than a little snark in my voice. He bared his teeth at me but made no move to make me regret my words. We both knew that the only thing this Kitty was good for was running away.

"The Savior-" He began with fervor in his voice, before I interrupted him with a stomp that shook the ground we stood on.

" **Isn't here. What type of Savior is he if he doesn't save you?** " The look of terror on his face spoke more than anything else, but I felt an overwhelming desire to stand up for the true Mutt in the Situation, to which Fenrir barked an ethereal laugh of indignation inside my mind, "You call yourself A King, but No King serves another. Maybe Tigers and Lions are kings only in their own homes, but no Wolf performs in a Circus," I finished by spitting on the ground in front of my feet.

He looked like he was seriously considering trying to attack me once more, but when the Fires stoked even higher than they had in the middle of the Fight he decided that Discretion was the Better part of Valor that day. He dove through the Fire before he Scuttled himself from the Forest at a blinding pace that I'd need Taylor to keep up with.

Jumping was good for long distances in straight lines, but it was absolute Shite for Tracking. You can't change direction mid Jump.

I felt the shift in my senses as the Dungeon Fell apart around me, with the Ceilings of the Forest returning to the Barren branches that they had been at the beginning of the Day. The Sounds and Smells of the World flooded back into my Senses as **[Instinct]** blared to life to catalogue the new information.

The first thing I noticed was the similarities; for instance, the Area surrounding me was still on fire.

"Oi!" I hollered over the guttering of the flames. I Grabbed an unburnt Tent and threw it on the quickly dying flames and began stomping on it to put them out for good. My eyes peered into the the minimal cover of Smoke in the area, and found Her stumbling to her feet. "You alright?" I called as I continued to put out smaller fires.

Her Amber eyes were wide and unfocused as she stared at the ground, and the zombie look had me vaguely concerned, before she shook her head and got rid of the cobwebs from her brain and wiped away a small dribble of blood that was coming from her nose. She raised her hands towards the fires, palms out, before slowly and with purpose closing her fists. The flames fell with the movement until there were only embers and burnt plastic on the ground.

"What a day," I intoned casually as I finally activated **[Second Wind]** to begin healing the various wounds I had suffered throughout the very fast paced fight. I frowned and coughed twice into my left hand, producing a blood covered bullet that had managed to stay in my system. "Eugh," I commented as my nose wrinkled back in disgust.

"Is that all you have to say?" Ashley questioned in disbelief. I quirked an eyebrow in her direction before placing the bullet in between the nail of my pointer finger and the pad of my thumb. I Flicked the piece of metal at her and she flailed her arms to keep it off of her, only to glower at me when it sailed over her head by three feet, to which I only smiled a toothy smile in response.

"I mean I got more to say, but I was planning on waiting for the rest of the Team before I explained the craziness, so I only had to do it once," I explained with a shrug before turning towards the Stone Monolith. I hiked a thumb over my shoulder towards the northern point of the clearing, "They're makin' their way here as we speak. I'm gonna ask Raul to take first watch so I can lay this stuff out for you guys, 'Cause today proves my special brand of crazy is contagious, you'll need the Whole run down."

"Alright," She drawled as she followed me before poking me in the back as we walked, "But no excuses. Full story, and I expect to hear about how you stopped aging," She stopped speaking for a moment before whispering conspiratorially, "I honestly don't care, but My mother wants to know. Something about anti-aging cream not working or something."

I laughed, but said nothing as the notification I was awaiting popped up.

* * *

 **Quest Completed; [Dead on Arrival]**

 **-** _ **The Deserters**_ **Have been dealt with, but now you need to understand what drives them. Look at the** _ **Big Mossy Rock?**_

 **0/73 Deserters active.**

 **Rewards; + 4325 exp for completion, ? Weapon, and + 10 Free points.**

* * *

 **Quest completed; [Disappearing Act]**

 **-All missing locals were killed and all evidence is gone. Return to town to deliver the news.**

 **Rewards; + 500 exp.**

* * *

 **Level up + 3**

 **+1 Attribute Point!**

* * *

I discarded the inane thoughts that came with leveling up and the influx of power to begin my inspection of the Stone Monolith. On the only revealed portion of the surface stood Glowing Blue Runes, looking to have been hand etched into it with rough hand tools. The Runes weren't Common, and as I knew no other language I couldn't read them, but they seemed to run together into a pattern. The same seven symbols in the same pattern, like a rhythm they had beat into the Stone so it wouldn't forget.

On a whim I moved to the doors of the Building and gave it an experimental push. The stone stayed solid and unwavering under my hand, but the Glyphs lit up in an excited state, before the shapes began to slide off of the Carvings and began to fill the Massive Portal with the blue runes, crackling with the obvious power that they held. I watched in fascination as the Words blended together until they made the same Seven Symbols that warped until they approached Common Letters that I understood.

 **BEITHIR**

The Letters meant nothing to me, and Fenrir echoed my lack of knowledge in the back of my head. And the more important thing is that the Doors stayed welded shut and firm in their Place in the frame. I shrugged and laid my hands upon the Stone once more to try my damnedest to move them myself, but before I could even put any ass into the Push the Words began to move once more.

The Blue energy flowed down the Surface incredibly fast before slithering off of the Stone with a hiss of energy and passing onto my Skin. I grit my teeth as the electric feeling overcame me, as though I had completed the Circuit in a mighty Circuit board with my arms, and the Energy passed through me before latching onto the chain wrapped around my left arm. The Sizzling of flesh stopped, as did the loss of Hp, before the Weapon began to rattle and shake and heat up at a moderate pace.

Once it stopped and I was able to rip my melted skin from the face of the Stone I unwrapped the Chain from my Arm and tried to find any difference in the Weapon, but it weighed the same, moved the same, and looked the same in almost every way, save for the single link of the Chain that served as the Hook that held it in place being blackened. I touched it hesitantly, but when nothing happened I shrugged and replaced the Weapon about my arm.

One more solid rap on the door to make sure nothing else was going to happen, and when nothing did I called out to my partner, "Oi, Ashley! I think they don't know how to track us," I snorted at my own stupidity, "Let's go find them so we can go get something to eat!"

There was an indignant huff from the other side of the odd Building, before she yelled her own response, " _Us_?" Came the nonplussed response, "They don't know how to track _you_!"

"Same Difference," I responded casually as we met up and began walking out of the smoldering remains of the Camp.

"I feel like there's a pretty big difference," she muttered petulantly, to which I returned with a flick to the side of her head.

"Partners," I started in my best Old Wise Sage impression, "For better or worse. When one of does something good, so has the other. When one of does something stupid or is unreasonable, so has the Other."

"I'm not dealing with this," She stated firmly as she looked to the sky for guidance, " **You** are the idiot here that does and has stupid things happen to him," she pointed to herself as though I wouldn't be able to follow her thought process, " **I** am the one who pulls your ass out of the fire," A sour look crossed her face, "No pun intended." I gave her a shit eating grin, and she responded by groaning and stalking off ahead past the treeline to begin yelling for the rest of the Team.

I took the moment of peace to slide all of the Screens aside in favor of the **[Perks]** Screen that followed the flurry of notifications. I minimized the five perk trees that I didn't care for and stared at the Remaining three.

* * *

 _ **Choose a Perk!**_

 **-Decimator Tree;**

 **Available Attributes:**

 **-Tough as Nails; 30 Str Required.**

 **Double the bonus of Juggernaut, increasing to .5% per point of Str.**

 **Never experience the woes of broken bones or strained Muscles.**

 **Add 10% of Str to Base Atk.**

 **Allows access to [Anger Incarnate] and [Break Upon My Skin].**

 **-A Fist Wizard; 25 Str and 15 Int Required.**

 **Any Physical Damage you deal has an extra 25% of the Damage dealt as non-elemental Magic Damage.**

 **Allows Physical Damage to affect Non-Corporeal Entities.**

 **Allows access to [Way of The Fist] and [Hungry Hands].**

 _ **+Finesse Tree.**_

 _ **-Bulwark Tree;**_

 **\- Fast Regenerator; 30 Con Required.**

 **Regenerate a Half of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, and your Con's worth of Stamina per Second.**

 **Ignore 5% of all Damage.**

 **Allows access to [Instant Regeneration] and [Rampant Mutation].**

 **\- Made of Health; 25 Con and 15 Wis Required.**

 **Increase your Hp and Stm by 50%.**

 **Allows access to [Made of Scars] and [Made from Marble].**

 **+Acrobat Tree.**

 **+Scholar Tree.**

 **+Ponderer Tree.**

 **+Rogue Tree.**

 **-Unyielding Tree;**

 **-Deadened; 30 Res Required.**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **Allows access to [Dead Man Walking] and [Forged in Fire].**

 **-Brick Wall; 25 Res and 15 Con Required.**

 **Become immune to the Knockback Effect, but lose .5 mph Base Movement Speed.**

 **Resist 5% Physical Damage.**

 **Allows access to [Holy Aura] and [Gather Momentum].**

* * *

I narrowed my eyes at the choices, not recognizing some of them from the last time I had seen the list, but it had been months since then and I let it go. I selected **[Deadened]** with a nod, determined to become as unaffectable as possible. I confirmed the choice with barely any thought, and immediately felt my soul fill every fiber of my being. The Steely Force hardened and solidified under my skin and the Cold strength that it filled me with, the one that wasn't a skill or even quantifiable under the **[Game]** , gave me the same assurance in my survival that was underlying every action I took.

Resilience, such an odd concept. The thought that when a world ending attack hit someone their soul would hold it together just to give them one more chance was a thought that sounded so foreign to an otherwise fair system.

So Flawed.

And oh so **Human**.

" **Why are you covered in Blood!** " came the cry of surprise from Cosma ahead of me, and I cringed as I realized exactly what I looked like. I was covered in Blood, Ash, and Ice from Head to Toe. " **All of that is His?!** "

I groaned, imagining the multiple Talks I was going to be having this night.

* * *

 **[Keep complaining, and I'll bring you in here to take you to task as well.]**

* * *

I sighed and hung my head as I dismissed the Notification, and readied myself for what was to come.

Because, as it turns out, while Determination was extremely Human, so was Concern.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])**

 **Lvl 21: 125/2100 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 39954/39954 HP Regen: 805 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1665/1665, Stm Regen: 62 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 6888/6888, Ap Regen: 114.6 Ap/Sec**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (116) 123**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 38**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (151) 159**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 8**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 81**

 **Free Points; 10.**

 **Attribute Points; 1.**

 **Atk: 806**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 22283**

 **Pistol Atk: 284**

 **Def: Phys; 79%.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

* * *

 _No big Author Note this Chapter._

 _Basically, Imma try to update the story every two weeks, but there is always the possibility that I am early or late. I'm still responding to reviews that ask questions, and even responding to some Reviews that aren't questions to ask my own of the reviewers._

 _Review if you got something to say, and I'll get back to you as soon as I see it._

 _Alright, Jericho Out._


	19. Level 1: Resolution

_Interlude A_

* * *

The morning was calm and bright, the morning sun looming overhead and heating the cool sand and air around the Campus of the Academy. A breeze brought the clean and fresh air through the window of Janette's Office, and with it the sound of construction as well as the general sounds of a populated area. The tinkling of laughter of school kids as they walked towards their Classes filtered in along the breeze and she was half a mind to get onto them for not being in class yet, but the peacefulness of the Morning wasn't something she often felt, and made no move to break it. She imagined that the Three Teams of first years that had arrived back on campus in the past four days were luxuriating in the peace, just as she was.

She removed the pair of glasses from her face and leaned further back into her Chair with a sigh and a smile on her face. It had been eight years since she had moved to the Campus as the Resident Librarian and Literature Teacher, and two since she had been appointed as the Headmistress in a bewildering turn of events. The former Headmaster had been a stodgy old man, stubborn to a fault and seemingly born without the ability to admit he was wrong. He had opened the School eleven years ago, and had achieved minimal success in his tenure.

His policy had been to examine those that came to study or teach under his roof thoroughly, and only to let in the cream of the crop. He had believed that the Academy had been set up to educate the best of the best, and that only those people deserved the Academies Seats. Unfortunately, while he had been a highly decorated Huntsman and had rubbed shoulders with a large number of important people in his day, The Major Four academies had the weight of their names and histories behind their actions and programs, and he had not.

He had retired thinking that the Academy would be nothing but a failure, and the Board of directors had gone through two Teachers-Turned-Headmasters in a year before they chose her to replace them. She had initially balked at the appointment, for what was she compared to the likes of those under her. She had no power, no strength, and no weight to her words save for the belief of her Husband, who she had thought immensely more powerful and better suited to the Job.

And, most importantly she was expected to herd Hormone driven Teenagers that were essentially walking Weapons of Mass Destruction, without the threat of violence.

She had thought herself doomed, and retreated to the only place of solace for her; Books.

She learned from the mistakes of History, mistakes that people seemed content to make over and over again all throughout the span of Humanity's lifetime, and applied the lessons to her floundering Academy. She opened the doors of what had been considered a closed and pretentious establishment to any that applied, and had made the Teachers aware of what she planned on doing. To put it simply, the academy didn't exactly need the money, but neither were they swimming in the stuff. And they needed something much more valuable; Public Opinion. Not to mention that Money was immensely useful.

Long ago, power belonged to either the person who swung the sword the hardest or those that fed him. Now? The world had evolved (Or devolved) into an extremely complex place, and that meant needing more than those that swung the sword. Programmers from afar were recruited, Recruiters were hired, and guidance counselors were… Bribed, there was no getting around the word, to place their brochures in advantageous spots. And gone was the Single Team of Hunstmen-in-Training per Graduating class that had been implemented by the previous Headmaster.

Maybe the quality of Huntsmen approached those trained in direct Apprenticeships, but quantity had a quality all to itself.

To put it simply, the connections and backwards traditions that had kept the Academy barely afloat were replaced by the methods and science of her Library, and the Board could not be Happier. They would be even happier once they received word of what she was looking at in her Inbox.

It was less than three months into the School year, but with the Spring came the applications of next year's students. And as she focused on her Monitor once more and scrolled through the emails to count once more, she let the feelings of elation boil over her once more in a bubbling laugh of her own. She was looking at fifty three applications, with a few updates from her Currently off campus instructors sprinkled throughout, and as the Headmistress she was only Forwarded the Applications of those looking at the Hunter Corps.

Nearly three times as many candidates as the last year's class.

As she scrolled back to the Top of the page the Inbox refreshed, and sitting at the top was an email flagged as Important. Without much thought she Clicked on it, expecting another rant from a Director or concerned parent who hadn't been able to get in contact with a child over the rather shaky CCT connection, but instead found the Full report of one of her Instructor's, and more importantly her Husband.

She could only blink in confusion as she read the first Line Read, "Dear Janette, have I upset you?" and as she continued down she felt a bizarre mixture of Fear for the Safety of her students and Family, Pride at the Display of Skill and Strength from her students, validation of her choice to Take the two time-displaced Teenagers in to her school, and confusion at the absolute insanity the Team had managed to get up to in their Month away.

She had known that no matter what Team had been assigned to Raul they would probably come back shaken up, in fact she had been counting on it. She had set up the Routine of Instructors and Teams meticulously to expose all four to the styles of Hunters and jobs in the world, with four distinct Personalities and approaches to the job for the Students to compare and contrast while they developed their own personal and unique approach. Raul was _by far_ the most aggressive of the Four, with a Record of almost entirely Search and Destroy missions with a few Tactical Insertions and Rescues.

He was arbitrary and arrogant, while also seeing his ruthlessness as a mercy. In his mind, there was no reason to soften a blow that would be felt all the same, and some people he helped appreciated the blunt honesty, but most didn't. If he was called in, you could be sure that there was almost _no_ chance that any civilian was still breathing in the area. He was efficient in a Team, and could lead if need be, but his Semblance was suited for solo excursions, and his track record displayed this. He could be considered professional, but it was more an apathy that pervaded his thoughts than a regard for civility.

She had known that he may be a culture shock for some of the Students, and last year one Team of First years had requested to not be led by him on anymore Outings. She had expected him to set a blinding pace, to take missions at his normal pace of one per week, which was about twice as fast as the next most aggressive huntsman in Vacuo, and then exhaust the Team while hammering home the point of Humility and knowing their own bounds, maybe encountering their first Non-Grimm Mission and him having to stop for a day or two to let students parse out that moral conundrum.

What she was not expecting, was the Report that she had received.

She wrenched her eyes away from her monitor to pull the sleeve of her Jacket to lay eyes on her Watch before narrowing her eyes behind her glasses. She stood calmly and turned towards her window, and scanned the horizon for the Figures she was expecting to see.

In the middle of campus was the familiar red Leather Duster of Raul. Even from her office she could see how tired and haggard he looked; dust and grime coated every inch of his Outfit, and even as he stood tall above the panting form of one of his Wards, Miss Politan, that lay at his feet she could see the sag in his shoulders and the quickened pace of his breathing. It wasn't the absolute worst condition she had seen him in, he didn't even look _hurt_ , but goddamn did he look tired.

She made her way quickly from the Room and took the stairs down from her rather uppity Headmaster's Office, an Office she had only accepted after she had moved some of her Bookshelves into the previously Spartan room. At the bottom of the Stairs she found her right hand man, and the person she had relied on to manage the unruly teenagers for most of her tenure. Colton looked as impeccable as ever, standing up from behind his desk in his finely pressed charcoal suit, "Ah, Good Morning Miss Newman. Has something come up?"

Janette smiled and waved him back down, hoping to assuage the mother hen instincts that made him so good at his job, "It's fine, Colton. Raul just got back, and I happen to feel like going to see him," She raised an eyebrow at him in a taunting and teasing manner, "Is that an issue, Mr. Gibraltar?"

The man smiled quickly before it disappeared just as fast and sat back down in his seat, "No Ma'am, I was simply hoping for an excuse to put off my Paperwork."

She laughed as she reached the door and turned back towards him with a smile and chiding words, "I feel as though you shouldn't let your boss know that."

"And I feel as though there shouldn't be a form to request paper from Storage, but what am I to do," He sighed as he returned to his desk and the rather bulky stack of paper forms, forms she knew that she would have to sign off on as well.

The worst side effect of spring cleaning was hands down the bureaucracy.

She groaned as she shoved the door open and strode out into the fresh air. She followed the Cobbled path around the building and made her way towards where she had seen her quarry. She called out to her husband, and to a smaller extent the three students that were laid out or sitting around his feet, and he smiled in her direction before holding up a hand in her direction, as though signalling her to slow down or stop. Janette could only tilt her head in confusion before doing just that about fifty feet away from the group.

There was an explosion in the distance, a thunderclap that sounded rather close, and the noise had her and everyone in the immediate area ducking as though it was going to followed by projectiles. Everyone save for the Three students and their instructor, who simply held an arm in front of their eyes. For a moment nothing happened and she was sure that someone had simply been practicing with their weapon, before a whistling was heard and continued to get louder. Janette was confused for a moment before she looked up into the Sky, and was rewarded with a small humanoid form that was shooting towards the Courtyard.

She hastily shielded her eyes as the Figure slammed down into the Courtyard, creating an explosion and cloud of sand that was sent in every direction, coating everything within one hundred feet in a fine layer of sand and dirt. The few children and workers dotted around the area began coughing and whining about the grime that now covered them, but Janette ignored them in favor of the figure that was slowly pulling itself from a small crater.

She stomped towards him through the sand and once she had reached the young man who was shaking a large amount of dirt off of himself and dirty and barely held together clothes she placed her hands on her hips and gave him her best menacing glare. The young man raised his red eyes and made eye contact with her and immediately blushed lightly before he scratched the back of his head, "Oh, Hey Janette! How's it goin'?" His tanned skin of his face was darkened from the time out under the sun, and the many scars were that much more visible on his face as they crinkled with his nervous smile.

Now, under most circumstances she'd have gone to Colton to deal with discipline in the student body, but Austin happened to be an exception to that practice. She stepped towards him and rested a foot on the lip of the Crater and pointed a finger into his face, letting the irritation spill out onto his face, "It was going pretty well before someone blew up my courtyard!" her hand shot out and latched onto his ear and twisted harshly, and she growled "Again! Come on kid, we're trying to make a garden here, and you keep using it as a landing platform." He snarled and hissed with the motion while decidedly _not_ apologizing, but followed nonetheless when she pulled him towards where his Team was still resting.

Raul was watching with a perplexed look on his face, but he wouldn't understand as he hadn't been here for the first month of school to see exactly what she had dealt with from this particular student, though judging by the state of him he had probably seen some similar shenanigans. Janette would have been convinced the kid was making it his job to cause havoc on the Campus had he not shown genuine regret and guilt, _not_ for his actions, but for the fact it was causing her stress. He had proven to be unbreakable when it came to punishments, having run teachers ragged when they were supposed to be punishing _him_ and having proven to be more of a hazard to the Custodial staff than any kind of help.

Which left Janette's ire as the last thing to actually hold against the young man.

"Team ACRA," she snapped before dragging the unapologetic hunter-in-training the last few feet to rejoin the others, "You look horrible and smell worse, go clean up and get some rest, would you? Just looking at you is making me yawn," She shook her head and waved towards the Dorms on the other side of the Courtyard, "We'll debrief later. Dismissed."

Team ACRA all gave their goodbyes, save Austin who just grunted while scratching the back of his head in his apparent embarrassment of getting caught. Janette watched them move away before sighing and turning to her Husband, who was looking just as haggard up close as he was from the window, and immediately began checking him over for wounds and issues.

Her peaceful morning had been shattered, and she could feel every other employee on the campus mourning the loss of peace.

Peace that had lasted an entire month, with Team ACRA far, _far_ away from Campus.

* * *

 _End of Interlude_

* * *

It was an odd feeling, no longer being afraid of deadly encounters hiding around each corner, but while I had felt a tad more relaxed that was nothing compared to the elation that my Teammates felt upon reaching our dorm room. They walked with struggling steps into the Dorm Hall, bleary eyed and looking worse for wear, and ignored anyone else they may have seen along the way in favor of seeking out their Abodes.

More specifically their beds.

They fell into them with a collective sigh of relief, as though they had managed to make it to the finish line of some long and arduous journey, but it hadn't even been that rough of a month. Hell, I was actually riding high on the pretty low number of Grimm Ambushes on our Campsites along the Trip. "Alright, you big babies," I teased with a grin as I unbuttoned the two flannels and pulled them from my back, "If you're this tired from a jog then we need to work your cardio."

My only responses were two muffled groans of horror and a shoe bouncing off of my forehead, which I laughed at.

"Alright, alright, maybe it was a bit hard," I capitulated, "I'll leave you to your rest. I gotta go find stuff to repair my Clothes with, and other friends to check up on," I ducked under Cosma's other shoe and laughed heartily as I swung open the door, before Flicking the light switch off on my way out. I turned away from the door with a large smile and activated **[Instinct]** to survey my surroundings.

As my ears took in the information I'd need for my next task, such as pinging the position of Team TESL for me to track them down later and interrogate them about their Month abroad, The big man Hazel himself, who was situated in the Library flipping through a thick and dusty tome while a harried Miss Mourie bustled about behind him, or even to plot the position of pedestrians who I could potentially flatten if I wasn't careful, I pulled up the notification that I had received that morning.

* * *

 **Quest Received; [A Good Run]!**

 _ **"Cry 'Havoc!,' and let slip the dogs of war!"**_

 **Having survived the First Month of School you are now released upon the world with the vague direction of "Help". Get to it!**

 **-Meet up with your Guide!**

 **Rewards; + 12 Free Points and + 1000 exp.**

* * *

I nodded at the Message and quickly deposited the points where I wanted them, and blinked as another Notification popped after I finished placing the points into Strength.

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Defense Unimaginable]!**

 _ **A Defense is a good offense… But sometimes Defense will do!**_

 **Reach the Upper Limit of a Defense Statistic!**

 **Reward; Access to the [Defender] Class at Lvl 50, + 10% Hp Regen, and + 10% Stm Regen.**

* * *

A smile, just a tad feral, slipped across my face as I closed out of the screens that marked my continued ascent towards becoming one of the most dangerous and hard to kill people on the face of Remnant. I pulled up my Status page and expanded the **[Def]** Stat to examine it.

* * *

 **Def: Phys; 80% (50% [Mitigation], 31.5% [Juggernaut], and 2.5% [Main Tank]).**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80% (168% [Deadened].**

 **Shell: Phys; 235 Damage ((30 [Iron Skin], 17 [Deadened])/ 20% (100% - Def:Phys)).**

 **Mag; 17 Damage (16.8 [Deadened]/ 100% (100% - Def:Mag)).**

 **Effect; 50% (50% [Iron Will]).**

* * *

It was… Odd, to say the least, to think that I had managed to change by body so radically in such a drastically _small_ amount of time. Here I was, quickly approaching the apex of physical defense with my advances into **[Def:Phys]** and it's extension **[Def:Phys:Shell]** , which is the amount of damage I can take from an attack without taking damage, when less than six months ago my biggest threat in life was the wrath of Nan and her Workouts. The difference in my Power, durability, and Mobility was bizarre to think about, but now that I had received a notice pointing it out I couldn't help but ponder the circumstances.

But looking back was for the Historians and Archeologists, and I was no Doctor.

My eyes refocused on Reality just as my Senses alerted me to someone entering the Dormitory and heading to the Common Room, where I had ended up.

Laying on a couch.

My head jolted as I looked over my positioning, apparently having instinctually moved into the Common room without thought, letting my feet guide me. I shrugged at the odd occurrence, but decided against worrying over it. Honestly, my body moved on its own in the middle of fights more than not, leaving my brain to do the heavy lifting of activating **[Skills]** and determining what I should do, and a little thing like moving to a couch seemed so innocuous as to not be a big deal.

I heard a door down the hall open and watched my minimap as three dots moved into a room while a fourth broke off and moved towards my position. I debated getting up and greeting them, but decided against it on account of the unexpected comfiness of the couch. It felt better than the Beds we were given, and I was debating sleeping out here for the rest-

"There you are!" the voice snapped me out of my thoughts with a jump, as the source was standing directly over me. I blinked as my eyes met the bright blue eyes of Taylor, and I snarled at her more chipper than usual tone. She was wearing clothes that I didn't recognize, a pair of dark jeans and long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. To be honest, I didn't recognize any of her clothes outside of her Leather Jacket, that was closer to armor than accessory. Another odd thing was… Something with her hair.

It looked like something had changed, but I hadn't paid enough attention to her appearance to spot exactly what it was. Beyond whatever subtle thing had changed, there was one that she herself was undoubtedly unaware of.

 **[Taylor Chesterton]**

 **[Level 20 Agile Fighter]**

 **[** _ **Chroma Saboteur**_ **]**

"Here I am," I snarked as I sat up, "Why, were ya lookin' for me?"

She rolled her eyes as she hopped backwards to lounge in a recliner with her hands posted up behind her head, "Nope," she disagreed, making sure to elongate the _p_ to make it pop in just the right way to make my eye twitch, "I was looking for the Gopher that made that Hole in the Headmaster's Garden."

I scoffed aloud as I tried to find a comfortable seating on the Couch where I could also see her, "Garden, My Ass. At best it's a Mistralian Sand Garden on an off day. How was your trip?"

She waved a hand in front of her face in a so-so motion, "The most exciting part of the Month was our Sprint to meet up with Mr. Rainart."

"Mr. Rainart?" I asked, not bothering to hide the incredulity in my voice, "The fuck did he do to get on your good list?"

She shrugged and shot me a reproachful look, "He's a nice dude. Packs a mean punch, and can take one hell of a beating, too. We spent the month guarding an outpost that was being expanded, and also had a rough time with accidents, and kept attracting a lot of Grimm attention. We fought off at least a few dozen Grimm," I shot her an unimpressed look, "And we spent the rest of our time Training under Mr. Rainart or Sparring with each other. The Guard Captain taught me a few tricks as well," She sent me a lazy smirk to show she meant nothing by her words, "Who knows, tough guy. Maybe next time we fight, I can beat em into you."

"I'd like to see you try," I returned casually, "How'd your team hold up?"

"Eh," She spoke with a bit of hesitation, and for the first time in the Conversation she showed some discomfort, "Turns out Shebul has Night Terrors. He doesn't have them often, but when he does…" she trailed off and winced at some memory.

"His Semblance act up?"

She nodded in response before she regained her composure, "We woke him up pretty quick, but it made Emily and Luca wary about a repeat performance and they had trouble sleeping the rest of the month," She squinted her eyes at some unseen object in the middle distance as her right hand moved down to her ear and scratched it as a look of contemplation crossed her face, "Pretty sure I'm the only one who slept every night of the Trip."

"Fearless, Eh?"

She laughed and shook her head, "Nah, just more tired than Scared. How was your Month?"

A thousand images passed in front of my eyes at that question, but one of the more recent memories stood out. I shrugged my shoulders, "It was pretty good, had a lotta fun, got to beat one some people and things, and picked up a trick or two along the way. The real kicker was when I tried to explain to my Team my special brand of stupid."

She raised an eyebrow at me questioningly, "Oh? How'd that go?"

* * *

" _Alright," I spoke as I rubbed my hands together in front of me and sat on a bed in the cramped Room. My teammates were splayed around the Room, in various states of sitting and waiting for me to explain something really, really stupid. I opened my mouth before it clicked closed and my hand came up to my eyes to rub them in consternation. "Honestly," I began as I thought about the circumstances, "I don't even know where to begin."_

 _We had made it back to the Inn that acted as the main Hub of Slurry, and Raul had spent the better part of an hour checking to make sure the two of us had been alright, mostly Ashley despite the copious amounts of blood on my clothes, before retiring to the Bar for a night of drinking. This left me with my team, two of which were confused as to what we would be talking about and my partner finally calm enough to be curious as opposed to stressed and hostile._

 _And it had given me enough time to realize that I was about to try and explain something I barely understood._

 _Eh, I'd done dumber things in my life._

" _The beginning is where I usually start," Cosma said with a placid smile, her earlier energy having left her quickly once we reached town. It was an odd experience, being near her on such a constant basis. I had grown up with a cold and prickly woman, someone who wasn't prone to showing discomfort or affection in any way other than whacking me upside the head. Directly after that I had dealt with Government workers who seemed to think that avoiding talking about the reason I was emancipating, or needed the Orphan's Fund, or needed housing in the City at such a low cost was a kindness. And then Tuco had made his care known by helping me with stuff silently and awkwardly, but the one thing they all had in common when it came to dealing with stressful emotions and situations was that they didn't._

 _It was this belief, something I was fairly sure was innate in all people around the world and I had no evidence to the contrary, that had left me blindsided when dealing with Cosma. The small girl had apparently tackled Ashley to the ground the moment she saw her in a momentous hug before rapidly checking her for the source of the blood on her clothes. She had tried to do the same to me, but I had barely felt the difference in weight and she had hopped down and fluttered about me in a tizzy. She had been close to tears, apologizing for leaving us by ourselves, for not moving quicker, and for a litany of other things that I was sure wouldn't have made too much of a difference._

 _Honestly, Roman's silent question after noticing my lacking a right shoe and pant leg, from where I had stepped on a landmine, with a raised eyebrow was what I was more used to. I had shrugged and Thanked him before questioning what they had been up to in the forest, to which he informed me that they had been attacked by a patrol of deserters and a Chimera, which had shown up after the Deserters had been dealt with._

 _I gave her a deadpan stare, deciding to forego all efforts on it and describe as barebones as I could. "Remember that Beowolf I killed when I was a kid?" They nodded their heads slowly, but it wasn't like I thought they would forget, "Well, basically, shite like that happens at a pretty consistent rate, and one of the recurring themes is that the world likes to railroad me into specific directions by molding the environment into direct paths to the nearest ass-kicking in the area. So far, I have been lucky and well prepared when it comes to the monopoly of violence, but today proves that it's not me goin' crazy, and it is indeed the world trying to fuck me over once again, because she," I lazily pointed a finger over at my partner as I haltingly forced my way through the thoughts and ignored the howling laughter in my mind, "Saw that shit too. Which means either I am crazy and it is beginning to spread, or its actually happening and I ain't that particular brand of crazy."_

 _I dutifully ignored the bland and deadpan expressions of my teammates as I rambled, and strived to actually explain something along the way. I stumbled my way through the story as I could remember it, and as it was recorded in my_ _ **[Notes]**_ _, which included as much detail as I or Fenrir could recall. Which mostly meant disturbing my team with how often I was shot, or set on fire, or attacked by grimm._

 _Cosma tapped out after the Mention of the Screens, somehow the one who either had the lowest tolerance for the absurdity or the one with the most, as she simply rolled over and went to sleep with a yawn. Ashley held up her hands after a while, about twenty minutes after her eyes glazed over when I described my thrashing of the Syndicate, and cut me off. "Look, Just let me know when something bad is going to happen, alright?" She gave me a pleading look, "If you need help, ask. And if you want to do something, we're a team. We'll help. Just…" She floundered for words for a moment before her shoulders slumped in defeat and she stood from her bed, "Just try and act normal for me. Please."_

 _I nodded my head in response, not even a tad bit surprised by her reaction to the_ _ **[Game]**_ _. Her hardwired belief in her view of the world was how she navigated it properly, and had I told her this without her having been trapped in a dungeon she would one hundred percent called me crazy and dragged me to the Headmistress to request a different partner. I narrowed my eyes as she walked calmly, with a dazed look on her face, out the door and shut it slowly behind her._

 _She might still put in that request._

 _I shrugged and returned to my last audience member. Roman was extremely fascinated by the entire thing, once, of course, I had reasoned out why he should believe me (The way I worked without Aura, the way that my body acted in ways that were distinctly unnatural, how quickly I picked up skills and masteries, My minimap, etc). Honestly I don't think he believed me entirely, but he seemed perfectly ready to humor me simply for the mental exercise. We stayed up for another hour or so, the entire time writing down everything I told him in his Notebook, until Ashley came back in and told us we should head to bed._

 _In short, two had shutdown, one of which may have gone drinking with her Dad afterwards, and one had been fascinated with the process._

 _At least they hadn't tried to Slug me for dragging them into it._

* * *

"They took it well, all things considered," I squinted as I tried to remember if **[Instinct]** had picked up anything on Ashley's clothes when she returned to the room. I then darted my eyes towards Taylor with an accusatory glare, "At least _they_ didn't hit me."

"That's because they're a buncha pansies," She responded without hesitation as she stood up from her chair and nodded her head towards the Door, "Let's go grab something to eat, my Team's been training all morning and I am _fucking starving_ , and talking to your ass is getting in the way of my meal. You can tell me the rest of the story over some food."

"Oh, you always know exactly what to say," I mock swooned as I stood up and faked falling into her arms with just enough gusto that she flinched and jumped out of the way before I stopped and laughed. She growled and Planted a fist into the back of my head, but she found that my body was unyielding and yelped when she came into contact with my skull. I looped an arm around her shoulders and dug my fist into the hair between her ears, an action that elicited a growl and a snarl from the girl.

I ducked out of the way of a flailing fist form the now raging girl, mostly to make sure she didn't hurt herself on me again, and pushed through the door with my back. She lunged and I barked out a laugh as I continued to try my best to dodge the much more agile girl, and made my way towards the Cafeteria.

I was hanging out with a friend, my Teammates were safe and resting after our long trip that was what I would consider a successful thing, and The world wasn't out to get me. The sun was out, the air was warming up, and not a single enemy in my **[Instinct]** Range.

As I smiled, and ignored a swipe that landed on my shoulder, a thought occurred to me; I don't always enjoy what I am good at. It's not really surprising, as I'm quite good at producing Destruction and Strife, but it did surprise me that I did enjoy what I was bad at, specifically because I was bad at it. People and peace weren't my forte, but they were entire reason I fought; to buy myself and others more time of peace, so that I could continue to fail at Talking and existing around them. And while a fight can be enjoyable, it was usually the fights that were between friends or people that didn't wish me extreme harm.

I help people, but I can't hold a pleasant conversation with them to save my life.

An odd conundrum, but one I embraced with open arms. Because even if I'm at a horrible disadvantage in a world at peace, I could get behind the idea of a world that is better for everyone, even my enemies.

I stopped moving as Two Screens popped in front of my face.

* * *

 **[Directional] Quest received; [Rest In Peace!]**

… _**But not the euphemism for death, this time!**_

 **-You have decided that Peace is better than War! Figure that one out, Genius!**

 **Rewards; [Peacetime] Status applied until a seperate [Directional] Quest is completed!**

 **[Y/N]**

* * *

 _ **[Directional] Quests are the quests could be considered the core basis of a Player's Journey. They can be accepted at anytime, and have no Deadlines, but once accepted they cannot be declined, and the [Game] will guide you towards your chosen goal in particular situations.**_

* * *

I could only blink at the Description, before narrowing my eyes at the **[Quest]** that I had been given. It… wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

In fact it sounded more like the motivation of a warlord than of a peacemaker. I couldn't think of a worse thing to do to people, enforce peace upon them whether they want it or not. And the corollary of " **until a seperate [Directional] Quest is completed** " made it abundantly clear that someone would have to force me to stop making peace.

This was not the way to go for a better world, making people fight for their _Freedom_ from my version of peace.

* * *

 **[Directional] Quest received; [Control-Freak-Out]!**

 _ **For feck's sake, I cannae deal with this Cunt breathin' down mae neck. Let's feck 'em up!**_

 **-[The thought of molding the world to your view of peace has dissuaded you from your Quest]**

 **-Break the Chains of the world, and free the people from their chains! The world's a rough place, but that's no reason to be an Asshole! Fight for Freedom, and fight well, or you'll end up in chains yourself!**

 **Rewards; [Freedom Fighter] Trait for all allies along the way, and the Proof that you can fight against the world and Win.**

* * *

A feral Grin spread across my face as a chuckle escaped my throat.

" **[Freedom Fighter]** , eh?" I mumbled under my breath as we finally reached the door to the cafeteria, " _That's what I'm talkin' about!_ " I turned towards Taylor as she glared in my direction as I held the door open for her, "On a separate note, is there a place on campus where I could buy another pair of boots? These uniform Shoes are _killing_ me."

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

Pain and Fury greeted Bosco Verd upon his Awakening, and with every breath he wished for sleep once more. There were a doctor and a nurse still piecing the Butchered shoulder together, but the lack of anesthetic in the Base was biting him in the ass right about now. He had already passed out twice in the operation.

"You're gonna live, Verd," the Nurse said soothingly, placating him from moving against the restraints around his shoulder and upper arm, "But we had to wake you up, you have a visitor, and he won't take no for an answer."

The door was swung open to allow entrance to a grand figure, clad in White robes and golden splendor, that made his way to his side. Abbad, his Savior, grasped his hand in his gloves and removed his Hood to reveal a bush of Black hair on top of a tanned face, much younger than he had any right to be, and looking more tired than the Savior was allowed to, but for his best friend he let his guard down.

" _Akhi_ , who has done this to you!" He whispered in horror as he watched the Professionals go about their work.

"A Monster in the Guise of a Human," he croaked, now noticing how dry his throat was. He hadn't drank any water in at least a day, and he hadn't stopped for anything on his sprint home. "Killed all of the Men, Loach," His voice was nothing but a croak at this point, and the Savior shushed him.

"This shall not go unpunished," His Eyes flashed an eerie Blue as he stared down at the injured man, "Of this, you can be sure."

* * *

 _End of Chapter. End of Level 1._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])**

 **Lvl 21: 1125/2100 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 40784/40748 HP Regen: 880 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1697/1697, Stm Regen: 69 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 7140/7140, Ap Regen: 179 Ap/Sec**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (119) 126**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 41**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (154) 162**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 8**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 84**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 806**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 22283**

 **Pistol Atk: 284**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 235 Damage.**

 **Mag; 17 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **Skills:**

 _ **Combat:**_

 **-Brawling! Level 45, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **I fight like I eat; Aggressively.**_

 **A sloppy Hand to Hand style focused on raw physicality over finesse.**

 **Skill gives access to all Techniques used and observed by the Skill.**

 **+225% to all damage done with this Skill.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/second**

 **-Chain Mastery. Level Max, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **The Weapon of Goons world-wide, learn to be the ultimate goon.**_

 **+125% Atk while a Chain is equipped.**

 **-Pistol Mastery, Level 8, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **The gun of Protagonists and Trash Enemies worldwide, I wonder which one you are?**_

 **+40% Atk With a pistol.**

 **+80% Critical Damage with a Pistol.**

 **+20.0% Accuracy with Pistols.**

 **+1 (Lvl/5) Extra Rounds per reload.**

 **-Explosives Mastery, Level 11, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **I actually wanted to be a Florist, ya know.**_

 **+55% Atk when using explosives.**

 **+55% time when disabling an explosive.**

 **-Thundering Blow (Tier 2), Level 12, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **The World shall know the Strength of Storms in my Wake.**_

 **For every point of Stm spent, increase the physical damage of one Attack or Skill by 1.6%.**

 **Skill Branched;**

 **-Power Throw; Level 3.**

 _ **Kobe for accuracy, Yeet for Power. YEET!**_

 **Thrown projectiles now have 60% of the Power Attack benefit.**

 **-Rend; Level 7.**

 _ **Rip and Tear**_

 **Bonus Damage to Inanimate Materials; do 140% more with Thundering Blows.**

 **-Blocking. Level Max, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **"Did you tell her about your Herpes?"**_

 **The Art of Blocking an attempt.**

 **Costs (Dmg-Con) Stm/Block.**

 **Blocks 95% of damage on a successful Block.**

 **-Skill learned: Grapple, Level 5, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **You're mine now, I've literally got you by the Balls!**_

 **Deal 75% less damage than a normal attack, but inflict [Grappled] Status upon foe.**

 **-Skill Learned: Adrenaline Rush, Level 6, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **Feel the Burn!**_

 **Burn Hp to restore Stm, ratio of 11 Hp:1 Stm.**

 **Using over 81% of Health for this skill grants the Debuff [Strain].**

 **-Skill Learned; Second Wind, Level 6, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **Put me back in Coach!**_

 **Burn Stm to restore Hp, ratio of 1:6.**

 **-Osteogenesis, Level 15, [Grimm] Skill;**

 **Cost to use, .85% of Health and Stamina per 1% of Bone Structure affected.**

 **Known Effects;**

 **-Regen; Replace lost Bone with your own vitality, decreasing Limb regen Effect Durations by 99%.**

 **-Hardening; Temporarily Increase the Amount of Damage Limbs can Take by 75%. Lasts until next Rest.**

 **-[?]**

 **-Panic!, Level 3, [Grimm] Skill;**

" _ **Well, you aren't the ugliest thing I've ever seen. I've also seen your mother.**_ "

 **Depending on relative level and threat level, as well as active Cha modifiers, targeted individuals will become aggressive towards you. Inflicts the [Taunted] Status.**

 **3% More Damage taken from and dealt to those with the [Taunted] Status.**

 _ **-**_ **Soul Tear, Level 2, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **With the force of my hands I shall tear the bonds of the Soul and decide my own fate.**_

 **Apply the force of the Soul onto your hands to perform an Aura surgery.**

 **Techniques;**

 **-?**

 **-?**

 **-Status Removal; Expend 19% of your Aura to remove 1 Aura based Status.**

 **-?**

 **-Shatter, Level 2, [Human] Skill!**

 _ **Like everything else in this world, Ice and Steel will yield and break apart in the face of the Determined.**_

 **By pumping Aura into an object you can Force it apart with the Strength of your Soul.**

 **Costs 10*(weight of the Object in lbs) in Ap to separate it safely.**

 **Costs 20*(weight of the Object in lbs) in Ap to explode into shrapnel.**

 **Costs 60*(weight of the Object in lbs) in Ap to sublimate an object into a gaseous state.**

 _ **Movement:**_

 **-Running! Level 22, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **Run Bitch Run, Dey gonna get you!**_

 **Move at 370% of your base movement speed.**

 **Costs 2 Stm/sec.**

 **Maximum running Speed: 8.88 mph**

 **-Skill Learned: Power Jump! Level 18, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **If**_ **that** _**bird shat on your car it'd dent the Hood.**_

 **Through pure physicality Soar through the Air.**

 **Costs 33 Stm to jump your Str in Feet, Current base Distance 56 feet.**

 **Costs 72 Stm to Jump twice your Str in Feet.**

 **Costs 19 Stm to Jump Thrice your Str in Feet.**

 **Stm = N*33 + (N-1)*5, where N is the Coefficient of your strength, to reach N*Str Feet. -Skill Branched: Lunge, Level 10, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **Easy, Tiger.**_

 **Deal 200% of Attack after travelling a distance equal to your [Power Jump].**

 **-Skill Branched; Smackdown, Level 5.**

 **When landing deal Damage for the distance traveled; for every foot deal 10 Damage, in an area of Distance/95.**

 _ **Detection:**_

 **-Skill Learned: Detect Bloodlust, Level 19, [Human] Skill.**

 _ **Is it just me or does it feel a little Deadly in here?**_

 **Detection Range: 57 feet.**

 **-Skill Branched: Project Bloodlust, Level 12, [Grimm] Skill.**

 **(Res*2-EnemyRes)% Chance to Inflict [Stun] Status.**

 **Target must have at least (20-.5*Lvl) 14 Wisdom to be affected.**

 **Costs 20 Stm/sec.**

 **+Skill Learned: Instinct, Level 22 (Tier 2), [Grimm/Faunus] Skill.**

 _ **My eyes are one of five senses I can use, so why rely on just one?**_

 **(Passive) Detection: 100% chance of detecting (increase to Passive 30%) [Stealthed] Units.**

 **(Active) Detection*(1+.5*Level) = *12, move at ½ Movement Speed while Active. If still, double the effect.**

 **Base Range = 220 feet.**

 **Senses: Hearing, Smell/Taste.**

 _ **Passives:**_

 **-Skill Learned: Physical Conditioning, Level 5, [Human] Skill.**

 _ **Got Gains, Bro.**_

 **Increase Str and Con by Lvl %.**

 **Current Increase = + 5%**

 **-Skill Tree: Veteran Intuition, [Human] Skill:**

 **.5% increase in damage dealt and .25% decrease in damage received from this Enemy type.**

 **-Enemies Encountered;**

 **-Hooligans Level 21: 10.5% increase , 5.25% decrease.**

 **-Organized Criminals Level 14: 7% increase, 3.5% decrease.**

 **-Pack-Type Grimm Level 5: 2.5% increase, 1.25% decrease.**

 **-Roamer-Type Grimm Level 4: 2% increase, 1% decrease.**

 **-Trapper-Type Grimm Level 4: 2% increase, 1% decrease.**

 **-Flier-typer Grimm Level 4: 2% increase, 1% decrease.**

 **-Skill Learned: Intimidation; Level 7, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **You don't want to see me angry.**_

 **For every 5% of health the target is missing, 7% more likely to answer a question honestly.**

 **-Iron Skin: Level 6, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **I heard that a master of this skill is so thick skinned that he could tank a million insults without crying.**_

 **Any Attacks that deal damage under the This Skill's Level times five are ignored for purposes of damage.**

 **Threshold = 30 Dmg.**

 **-Exposure, Level 14;**

 _ **When the world decides to piss all over your plans, bring an umbrella.**_

 **Through repeated exposure to the more extreme elements of nature, you have gained the ability to ignore its effects on you.**

 **[Environmental] Effects are 14% less effective.**

 **-Splash, Level 8, [Grimm] Skill;**

 _ **Splish, Splash, I was takin' a bath.**_

 **Physical Attacks now have an increased area of effect.**

 **Area of impact increased by a 1.4 Modifier.**

 **-Skill Learned: Mitigation, Level Max, [Grimm] Skill.**

 _ **Pain is as temporary as it is annoying.**_

 **Take 50% less physical Damage.**

 _ **Tedium (No notification):**_

 **-Skills Learned: First Aid, Level 5, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **That doesn't look quite right, the arm bone connects to the Shoulder bone, right?**_

 **Heal yourself or another when not in enemy line of sight or sustaining damage.**

 **Heal 25 Hp/Sec, requires appropriate medical supplies and 4 Stm/Sec.**

 **-Sewing, Level 7, [Human] Skill:**

 _ **Should have listened to Nan.**_

 **Restore Cloth Item Durability 6% per Level, requires Needle and Thread**

 **-Computer Science. Level 18, [Human] Skill;**

 **+36% words per minute typed.**

 **Words per minute =(1+.02(Lvls of Computer Science)(80+(Int*3)) = 112.8 Words per minute.**

 _ **Languages;**_

 **-Common, Level 8;**

 _ **The Melting pot of languages, often not even bothering to translate words from other languages and simply lazily using the words or bits and pieces to create new ones. If there was ever a language for you, this would be it.**_

 **Fluency; 80% of words are known, idioms and expressions are understood.**

 **-Sign Language, Level 2;**

 _ **What odd world have we walked into, where people can speak with their hands. What next, fighting with their Brains!?**_

 **Fluency; Alphabet mastered, as well as basic verbs and subjects most of the time.**

* * *

 _Alright, There goes the end of the Month long Shit show of dealing with someone with a negative luck score (Yes, that is true, though it'll take a while to come about, and its not that important), and this is one of the Chapters that is told by a good portion of Interludes, as I plan to make all of the Last Chapters of an Arc/Level. I have managed to plan out a good portion of the direction of the story, but it seems to take longer to write the more Chapters I have published, or just how much of the story I have written._

 _Tired as hell, and Finals are about to make it worse. Not to mention my Job, which is physically demanding and has a good bit of risk around it. As it stands, the place stresses me the hell out, even when its not dangerous._

 _Anyways, the Stat page will be getting shown less and less the further we go on simply not to bloat the Chapter length, but expect The Basic Stats and Attributes page at the bottom of the Chapter, as that's short enough to not be a mess._

 _Last bit of Music for this Arc;_

 _Theme song of the Entire "Starting Gate" Arc, as I have it labeled in my mind = "Decimator" by All Good Things._

 _Read and Review as always, as I enjoy answering questions. Keep an eye on your DM's if you leave a review, as I will send you one._

 _Alright, Jericho Out._


	20. Level 2: Part 1

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _Rain and Blood saturated the Dirt beneath their feet, and the sounds of panting filled the Training ground. Under the Roof of the Front porch of the Hunter's Lodge sat a few of the older or injured members of the Huntsmen Corps, those who were considered bigger assets off the Roster than on, and they were either mingling among themselves or throwing out jeers from farther off the Mound. Titania through a glare their way and was rewarded with a temporary reprieve from the insults, and had the eleven year old that was being beaten black and blue had been anyone else she would've had them strung up by their balls for the coarse language aimed at a young man._

" _ **Fuck!**_ " _came the hoarse voice followed by a few deep breaths as her ward stumbled to his feet, "_ _ **Off! You mangy old Bastards!**_ " _He yelled at them, and they responded with hardy laughs or teasing. She narrowed her eyes and flicked a hand out towards the back of his head while making a note to try and figure out where he was learning all of these words from to put a stop to their use._

 _Had this been three weeks ago, he would've taken a hammerfist to the base of his neck, but once again the child displayed that, at the very least, he had developed a keen sense of her movement. What anyone watching would regard as a sense of_ _ **Danger**_ _. He threw himself under the blow and charged towards her, the shiner he was sporting and the split lip ignored in his fervor to strike. A feeling that had been well honed in the time they had spent together, as she had made it clear that a defense against her wasn't really an option. If she controlled the speed of the fight, the tide of motion, then he was_ _ **doomed**_ _._

 _With practiced ease she danced through his wild strikes and rocketed her knee up into his stomach, only for him to barely manage to raise his hands in time to catch the blow and mitigate the damage. He flipped end over end before crashing into the piles of Dead leaves that he had raked into position before the beginning of their "fight". She let him determine the flow of the fight, as she usually did, and settled into a seemingly relaxed position from which she could easily defend herself and stood ready to counter anything that he threw at her._

 _For this was the method that worked._

 _Whether it was her own ineptitude or impatience that made her unable to talk through simple exercises of fighting forms or martial arts that were simple to perform, some unholy fighting spirit that resided in the child or his own stubbornness, or some ungodly combination, but she couldn't seem to get a single bit of information to stick in the young man's head without beating it into place. So here she was, waiting for him to attack, picking apart the offensive and exploiting the obvious weak points in his form to deliver just barely blockable hits._

 _She had expected this to be a single day exercise, with her destroying the little brat and teaching him not to hit people because there is always someone out there that could do the same or worse to you. It was supposed to be simple, informative, and humbling for the young man that had recently been expelled from his Elementary School._

 _She should've known better._

 _The young man had taken to the training like a fish to water, absorbing information and techniques like a sponge, and becoming stronger and stronger throughout the process. She was impressed despite herself that he could even walk home with her most days, but the kid was nothing if not crystallized obstinance, so it was fitting that he never complained or whined or asked her to slow down. He simply adapted, molded himself to the pace that she was setting, before doing it again the next day when she invariably upped the ante._

 _Annoyance was quickly replaced with respect, the same respect that had made her adopt the little tike all those years ago, but it still left a question that burned at her insides._

" _Oi!" she called over to the shuffling pile of leaves, that returned a muffled grunt in response as a hand shot out to begin extricating the boy that was stored within. "Why are you fighting so hard?"_

 _The muddy, bloody, and now leaf covered boy gave her a tired glare as he got to his feet. His red eyes that had been tired before seemed to gather light as he stared at her, and growled in a way that made him seem more like a puppy than a predator, "What do you mean? I have to fight hard," he responded in confusion, his emotions so easy to read that the rather angry young man could now be seen as the truly confused child he really was._

" _No, you really don't," she responded, making no sudden moves. She had done that before, and the wary way that he was watching her told her that he remembered the ambush well. "You could just stop fighting, we could go home and you could be a normal little boy who plays with toys and cries when he stubs his toes and all of that. It's still a possibility for you," and one she had struggled with herself to make sure he knew was still on the table. She could only wince at the assault of memories and emotions that overcame her for a moment as she thought of her own options as a child, but it was ignored in favor of the young boy in front of her. He still had a layer of baby fat on his chin, his nose was still small and button like most young noses were, but his eyes were nothing like a Child's._

 _And that made her a tad bit sad._

" _I am normal," he declared without a hint of doubt, as though the concept that he wasn't normal hadn't even been considered._

" _No you aren't-" she tried, but was swiftly interrupted by her ward._

" _The world has made things and people like me, those who fight and are good at it, become the normal. To survive, to protect, I have to fight, and I have to fight_ _ **hard**_ _. If the kids in my class had been better, had been more like most of the world, they would still be fine," he tilted his head to the side, his bright red eyes shining through the dull blue light of the overcast Field like beacons and the birds nest of Gray and black hair shifting about on his head with the movement, "You fight. You've fought for most of your life. You fight for the same reason. Was I not supposed to think you were right?"_

 _For a moment she could only smile at the honest answer that he gave. Such a dour and cynical view for a child, but it was the only one he knew. To earn and gain one must fight, losing and winning never came into the conversation for him, but not out of some arrogance or confidence. He simply saw the fight as life, to stop fighting was to lose, to struggle even when beaten was truly a victory while becoming complacent after the fight the true loss. The fight was only lost when you stopped fighting, not when you were beaten._

 _She gave him a look up and down as his breathing began to even out, but wasted no more time before slamming into him, all defense forgotten in favor of trying to beat the child out of his cause. Elbows, haymakers, knees, and headbutts were dealt out to cause as much damage as she could while still keeping the kid in one piece. By the end of the Fight he was a bruised and dirty mess, but when she picked him up he spit blood into her eyes and got at least one last hit in._

 _She sighed as she slung him over her shoulder and declared the day's training over. He fell asleep almost immediately on her shoulders, but she could only shake her head at what she was doing._

 _A promise made long ago broken by the obstinance and willpower of a child._

" _ **Never put someone through what we went through, Ti-Ti. No one deserves that hell."**_

 _And yet here she was, nearly seventy years later, left with no other option than to break her promise._

 _She would train him until he would be terrifying and powerful, just as her father had done for her and her sister, and her grandfather had done to him. Methods that had been passed down through generations of Huntsmen and Warriors that had long stood between the masses and their deaths. The methods that breed those that fight monsters are monstrous in and of themselves. And those that employed those tactics had to be monsters themselves._

 _Hers, or more accurately their's, was a family full of monsters in the truest sense._

 _She sighed a deep and tired sigh._

 _She was just the next in line._

* * *

 _End of Interlude_

* * *

"When're you gonna stop gettin' in trouble?" came the scratchy and twang filled voice of my partner, Keith the Handyman, as he tried to help me carry the Vending machine that I had riding on my shoulder with the Debuff **[Encumbered; Stage 1]** for carrying something outside of my maximum Carry Weight. Thankfully, it seemed that the Carry weight listed was only what you could carry without a penalty to your movement speed, which for me was **365 lbs**. For each stage, dictated by how many multiples of my carry weight I am in the process of hauling, I lost twenty-five percent of my movement speed. So I could theoretically I could carry **1460 lbs** and still be able to move. I hadn't found anything that I could begin to try and carry that was heavier than that by a small amount, everything else was heavier than that by thousands of pounds. I tried moving a Bullhead, just to see what would happen if I tried without any **[Skills]** , and just began to hemorrhaging Stamina as opposed to actually moving it at all.

"When people stop fuckin' with me," I answered with an easy smile, sliding the screws that I held in my mouth to my right side closer to the Vending Machine, so as to not interfere with my speech. "When you gonna stop smokin' them deathsticks?" I returned easily, the flow of busting balls putting me at ease.

"When life stops takin' a dump on my life," He responded as he took the cigarette out of his mouth to flick the embers in my direction in mock irritation before sticking it back in his mouth and finally giving up on helping me haul our catch to the Maintenance Department, "So, I'll be smoking until I die."

"I feel you on that one," I replied as we came upon the Double doors of our destination. He opened up the Doors and I quickly moved into the room to place the Busted machine onto the nearest clear table with a muted thump onto the Dulled Metal slabs. Immediately I wiped the grease from my hands on the front of my School issued brown Jumpsuit that was the uniform of the janitorial staff.

Keith blundered past me and began to disassemble the project with an efficiency that I admired and knew that I'd never be anywhere close to, still smoking like a chimney stack as he did so. The scrawny man barked over his shoulder, "You shouldn't be so cynical, you're so damn young that everything should be rainbows and sunshine! Now get on outta here and do whatever it is that you do when you ain't dickin' around with me," he said as he casually waved a hand towards the door before returning to his work with a fervor, all the while grumbling under his breath about me doing his job for him.

I smiled and rolled my eyes, as though I was nearly skilled enough to take his job, I just happened to be able to carry more than him and he _happened_ to take it personally. "Yeah, Yeah, Oldtimer. I'm goin', I'm Goin'. Ain't gotta tell me twice."

"Still hear you yappin'!" he called over his shoulder, causing a laugh to escape my mouth. I left him to his job, the actual fixing of things, that he had tried teaching to me for about two months before labeling me lost cause. And I felt for the man during his tutelage because I knew what he was telling me to do, I understood where things were supposed to go, and I could fix a fair bit of simple mechanical errors, but no matter what happened something else entirely would become an issue.

A lot of money and machines were scrapped during those two months before Keith declared me a lost cause. When the Head of Maintenance, a large tattooed man by the name of Rusty, did a follow up to clear up the reason of the Report, as Keith simply could not think of a way to explain the phenomena, I was tasked with replacing a few brackets and tightening a few pipes after a routine inspection of a water fountain. Neither of the three people in the Hallway expected the Fountain a mixture of metal and water to explode out of the wall and into my face.

The resulting mess took me two hours to clean up, and managed to convince Rusty that I was not to be tasked with anything that required skill or finesse. I'm half convinced that the man had tried to have me removed from the Maintenance and Custodial Department entirely, but Janette had ruled that I needed to serve my time somehow and the custodial department seemed like a good place to do it. The man didn't dislike me, but made it clear that I wasn't to touch anything important.

I shook my head of the thoughts as I entered the dorm, activating **[Instinct]** to pinpoint where everyone was on campus, but more importantly to find Ashley. Taylor and Cosma were in the Cafeteria, one chowing down and the other scheming something that I would either ignore or not even notice as usual. Roman, Luca, and Shebul were studying in the Library with Ms. Mourie, along with a few other people from our class learning about Wartime History and the function of Huntsmen in War. Emily was in her room sitting on her bed… Reading? Hell if I knew, I couldn't see through walls, I could only hear her breathing- and there was a page turning, so reading in her room.

I walked past her door and left her to it, instead opening my own room's door and beginning to pull myself out of the insulated jumpsuit. Once I managed to get the thick material off of my shoulders I expanded my senses out further, finding my partner where she had spent the last two weeks since the Outing. I pulled some jeans on before putting on a pair of sneakers, sorely missing my pair of steel toed boots, and walking out the door to make a beeline towards my destination.

I passed by a few of the younger students, most of whom gave me a wide berth but there were a few that I had met while working and they gave me cheery waves. Apparently, it didn't matter what you looked like as long you clean clogged toilets, fix air conditioners, or just perform general maintenance you were accepted by those you helped, which was a nice side benefit of my line of work. I spied a few members of the staff who looked at me begrudging acceptance and twisted lips of disapproval for being a nuisance, and I smiled their way with a wave just to show how little I cared.

I walked towards the front of the Combat building, and held the door for the veritable flock of wee tots that surged forth, all chirping thank yous and laughs as they were released from their last class of the day. I walked past after the last stragglers had cleared the building and made my way towards the main arena where Combat classes were held, but also acted as practice grounds and places you could claim for sparring purposes. I pushed open the door and immediately felt the temperature spike by about fifteen degrees from the rather pleasant sixty degrees outside of the room.

I watched as my partner wove her way through a smattering of old service robots that were programmed with basic maneuvers, smacking them in the cushioned area that acted as lethal areas to disable them while avoiding their undercharged cattle prods. She wielded wooden swords about the length of her arm in place of her usual Dao, but wielded them with an ease that still surprised me.

The usual swirl of clothing that accompanied her style of fighting and dress was absent as she had foregone her usual attire for the more form-fitting School issued uniform, but still managed to seem to blur about with her hair let down. It was odd to see her as anything other than a tornado of steel and cloth, but she was no less deadly or skillful for it.

And I'd seen Nan take on a bar full of rowdy hunters with only a barstool and a glass of whiskey.

She dodged nimbly and performed acrobatic feats that I couldn't hope to achieve all the while attacking the dummies. She twisted around her weapons and jumped off of the heads of downed enemies, using their lack of group-think to her advantage as she danced her way through them. If she stopped it seemed to be timed with a robot's own algorithm not quite being fast enough to cope with her movement, and even then it was only long enough for her prey to turn towards her in a way that would limit their mobility. I imagine that this was the result of years of training against them, and she had simply gotten down the exercise to a science and used it as a warmup.

In under a minute she had disabled the group of thirty robots, having hit each one at least twice in a Lethal spot and not having taken a single hit. In the end she stood in the middle of them with only a light sheen of sweat and barely breathing any harder for the display. I waited a moment before approaching the Arena and calling out to her. "You ready to spar yet, Girlie?" was my opening, choosing as I usually did to get right to why I was there.

She turned towards me and shot me a smile, one of the few the girl ever wore. This one was the _bow before me mortals_ smile that she wore during and after spars where her adrenaline was running high and she let lose her inner narcissist. A small quirk of the lips and a narrowing of the eyes along with a minutely tilted chin so she could stare down her nose at you, it was an impressive display of arrogance or confidence.

Seeing as she had only been beaten twice and they had both been ring outs, I'd say she had room to brag.

"Of course I'm ready," she replied haughtily as she pulled hair back up into a ponytail with a hair tie, "Get on up here, we have things to do after this." Her amber eyes twinkled in excitement while I let out a sigh, knowing exactly what she was talking about and how much of a headache it was gonna be.

"How about we go slow so we miss the dinner? They'd forgive us if we missed it because we were training, right?" I pleaded with my Leader for what felt like the fiftieth time.

She responded by laughing loudly, "No, I doubt they would. All of the Board members are coming in to see this year's Hunter's Corps, and as I am a _Leader_ ," She emphasized the word with two swings of her swords, having replaced the Wooden pair for her own after the end of her training, "And you are my _partner_ ," She executed a kata of five sword swings that ended in a front kick, "We have to go to the Dinner to rub elbows with the Board members."

I only groaned as I began to go through my own warm-up routine of activating **[Thundering Blows]** with 68 Stm, the amount I regained in a second, and began shadow boxing on my side of the arena.

Unfortunately, the crashes of my skill going off weren't enough to stop her from taunting me about the dinner, "Oh, what's wrong? I remember you showing off how well you could gather information on the road?" she asked with false sincerity in her voice as she sent small waves of flames in her very literal warm-up.

"Shut it," I barked out as I unfurled my Chain a few feet and began swinging it, "I can talk to people who don't care about manners just fine, and most people who don't live in cities don't give a flying fuck about my profanity or my overall inability to handle myself like a human. Those moneybags we're gonna be eatin' with almost certainly will, and it's only a matter of time before I misstep and say _something_ wrong."

"Then let me do the talking," she spoke with true sincerity, now a much more serious tone in her voice as she came out of her warm-ups, "I've been going every other month to these dinners for years, and I've been told many times by some of the more verbose board members that I'm very charming if I put my mind to it."

I gave her a look as I spun the Chain back up and around my arm, "I'm sure that the fact you could roast them alive at any point has nothing to do with it?" I shook my head as she simply ignored my response and pointed at me with her right Dao.

"You know the rules, First to five hits wins, no maiming or destruction of the ring," I nodded in response and she graciously bowed at the waist from her position fifty feet away from me. I grumbled and spit to the side, and she took it as a sign of my ascent.

She leapt to the side and began sending scything waves of flame towards me, and I responded by throwing out my Chain to shoot through and disrupt them before they could reach me. I twisted and pulled with my weapon as the flames that were drifting down from projectiles I had disturbed began to litter the Battlefield, burning only on aura as they stayed, so no Smoke wafted up to disturb my vision.

There was enough flame to do that job well enough though.

I burst a projectile that Managed to make it within ten feet of me, but was shocked when Ashley came hurtling out towards me with both swords, sliding into my guard and scoring a two glancing blows across my chest. I growled before Slamming my palm into her back as she landed in response, sending her tumbling away into the Fiery Arena. I stepped backwards as another sword appeared from my left in the flames, and spun my Chain at full length around my body and scything it through the flames.

It was met with no resistance, but I heard where she had rolled under the blow from the _vlang_ of her swords off the tile floor. I reversed towards the noise and slammed the weapon up over my shoulder before slamming it down at about half of my strength. The blow whipped away the fires in its path and a good distance away as **[Splash]** made the blow act like I was slamming a big paddle down for the purposes of air resistance. Ashley dodged out of the way of my probe, so I spun around as I took a few steps towards her, dragging the weapon up and around once more.

This time the weapon struck true and she was force to bring up her weapons to block before it could actually cause her damage, and I took the opportunity to launch myself over the twenty that stood between us. I landed with a knee outstretched and she countered by slipping to her right and swinging her right blade at my side, which I caught under my arm and pinned it to my side. Her eyes widened as I smiled viciously at her as my foot drove into her stomach and sent her tumbling away.

I stepped towards her but she called up a sheet of fire in between us to use as cover. I grabbed her sword with my right hand and flung it through the Curtain of fire where I heard a yelp as it shot past her position. I laughed before a line of fire not unlike her Curtain appeared between where I stood and where I assumed she was, and I was blasted upwards by the attack but tried to mitigate the maneuver by jumping to the side. I was entirely unprepared for the vertical slash of fire that followed it, singing me with the blast as I rode it out.

I fell back in a tumble and rolled into a kneeling position.

My eyes were fixed upon the blade that tickled my throat, and I shot a disgruntled look at the young woman holding it. She spared me a smile before tapping me under the chin and stating clearly and concisely, "Five. You're still too slow, Austin. I thought you'd been working on it?"

I slapped her blade away from my neck as I stood up growling, "I have been working on it, I went from no hits on my side to two in two weeks. I think that's a pretty good achievement, thank you very much," I also didn't mention that this particular form of sparring was something I wasn't familiar with at all, as I had been trained in a grueling marathon method that focused heavily on staying upright after a hit, with dodging being next to impossible after the first hit.

Nan simply moved too fast for it, but now that I had opponents more My speed?

Apparently my clear lack of Agility was something wouldn't be tolerated by my Partner and Leader, and she had very politely demanded that I train with her, and she had spent the entirety of our sessions the first week dancing around me after telling me not to use Area based attacks. " _These sessions are about finesse and Control_ ," she had said when I demanded an explanation. Yet another way I didn't act like a Huntsman, as they were paraded as exemplars of precision and finesse, but I regularly destroyed cans of soda while I was drinking them and tear doors from their hinges when I walk through them.

Control is not exactly my strong suit.

For instance, I had suffered for about five months, having been privy to basically everything that happened on campus, _everything_ , because I had forgotten that **[Instinct]** wasn't a passive skill. I had simply forgotten that I could turn it off, like an idiot. A mishap it may have been, but it did demonstrate my point precisely; I had tendency to forget to control my strength and skills.

Ashley continued with her haughty smile as she walked towards the edge of the ring, bobbing her head rhythmically side to side as she walked as though she was listening to victory music that I wasn't able to hear. She grabbed two towels and threw me one as I walked over, "I don't know why I didn't start with this form of training, it's doing wonders for my ego," She drawled imperiously.

"Because when I can fight like I usually do I wipe the floor with you," I answered without hesitation, "And seeing as I go for loud and concussive attacks, I wouldn't be surprised if you came away from all of our spars with at least a minor concussion."

"Right, knew it was something," she spoke through the towel as she wiped away the sweat and soot on her face, "Whatever, let's clean up and get ready for tonight. We got some bigwigs to impress."

I couldn't even muster a groan even as she laughed her way out of the Arena.

* * *

"Have fuuun~" Cosma called as we walked out of the Dorm in our uniforms as Janette had told us to wear. I snarled at her as I closed the door, and she stuck her tongue out at me in retaliation. I shook my head and turned, pleasantly surprised to find that both Taylor and her partner Luca were, in fact, wearing their uniforms as well and Janette had not been trying to embarrass her daughter.

According to Ashley, it was a viable possibility.

"'Sup," Taylor Greeted with a nod and a smile towards us, while her partner was much more subdued.

"Ashley, Austin, are you ready for tonight?" Luca asked, doggedly averting his eyes from me, but not to stare at Ashley or do anything untoward. Just avoiding me, as he always did. Just a quirk, one that I'd become used to. I couldn't make heads or tails of the behavior, as I had never had anything but cordial conversation with the guy, and I certainly hadn't done anything violent towards him, but still he voided eye contact with me beyond the briefest of moments, during which I saw something close to Terror in his eyes. But he didn't run away or attack, so I was just extremely confused on the subject of Luca, and decided it was best to wait it out.

I moved over towards Taylor and casually bumped knuckles with her as the four of us began moving towards the Door while Ashley and Luca had a very polite and meaningless conversation. When I rounded the corner I saw the weaselly form of one Davis Nilah, a meaner and more conniving son of a bitch I have never seen, as he held the door open for the other three people that would attending the Dinner. He saw me and gave me his too perfect smile with a hint of disdain and cruelty mixed in before I activated **[Project Bloodlust]** and blasted him with it to send him scurrying from the building.

"Is it necessary to do that every time you see him?" came Ashley's exasperated question, one which I had heard more than once from the prim and proper nag, who held the belief that appearances are to be treasured, utilized, and maintained most of the time, "I know he is a bully, and he's baited you into getting in trouble more than once, but today he has to be on his best behavior."

"His best behavior is your worst behavior, which is why I'm worried," I declared monotonously. Honestly, the Craven man was bound to make me snap and actually kill him, but as it stood the game was still afoot and I was still winning. The moment I lost it, however, would not be a good day for him. We followed the other four down the path to the Main Hall, chatting about what we would be doing or talking about, or what we hoped to do on the next month's outing all the while. We passed the Stairs that led to Janette's Office, then the double doors that opened into the Cafeteria, and finally ended up in front of the Teacher's Cafeteria.

It reminded me of the Officer's Mess of the Huntsmen Corps, but with slightly less drinking and infinitely less bar fights. Also, no bar, which all alcohol I smelled teachers and other staff drinking in here were brought along, not provided. And as The school didn't buy or sell alcohol, that means that they were flying out to Vacuo to pick some up, and bringing it back with them.

They were determined drinkers, that was for sure.

The four students stopped just beside the Door to the room and began straightening themselves out, tucking their shirts in and smoothing out perceived wrinkles in their clothing, but I ignored them in favor of moving past them. I swung open the door, slightly tempering the force of the action from Howitzer strength to T-Shirt cannon as that was the best I could do, and found myself staring at the bewildered expression of Janette and the defeated expression of Raul as they sat at the head of a long table filled with graying old men and women wearing stuffy suits and dresses that probably cost as much as a car.

"Ah, Mr. Stain," Came the unaffected voice of Mr. Gibraltar from the seat to Janette's right, his choice of clothing for once looking to be in style with the Board members who were watching me with an array of different emotions, "How nice of you to join us. Please take a seat anywhere there is an open seat, dinner shall be served shortly."

"Can do," I looked about the room before someone pulled out a chair and patted it on armrest. It was all I could do not to take the seat that at the foot of the table in protest of my being there, but Ashley appeared at my elbow and moved towards the board members. I sighed and focused myself on being as placid and non confrontational as possible, as I knew nothing about these people. For all I knew they were saints upon the earth and deserved my praise, but I couldn't shake the antagonism that was rearing its ugly head.

It was people like these, after all, that condemned people to Mount Glenn, and then left them to their deaths.

I was a little biased on this subject, and I resolved to let Ashley manage the talking. I sat down next to her and watched as she began talking and rubbing elbows with the board members with the biggest, brightest, and _fakest_ smile I had ever seen on her face. In a moment she had managed to change from my hard nosed and disciplinarian Leader turned into socialite, all smiles and pleasantries that gave me mental whiplash from the suddenness.

Subconsciously I leaned away from the display, and I heard Taylor having the same reaction I was in the seat to my left, "What the fuck..?" she whispered as she leaned around me to watch the odd performance piece.

"It's her brown-Nosing Voice," Luca said as he pedantically fixed the table setting around his plate for lack of anything else to do, but me and Taylor turned towards him in obvious interest, "She used to use it one Teachers when she first got here so they liked her and they'd side with her whenever something came up. She's pretty good about it though, she doesn't just demand teachers do what she wants, and she tries to be responsible despite how easily she could just force people to bend to her will, so I don't have any issue with it."

"Doing what is needed to gain power," I muttered as I slid my eyes back over to my Partner as she finally stopped laughing at some inane joke with a sound that made me _nauseous_ , to look over in my direction, "Sounds about right."

I had seen it in her, the blanks looks or narrowed eyes when someone did something that annoyed her, before her calm and mostly pleasant face was back and she was talking as she always did. The briefest twitches of her hands when Davis insulted me or Cosma, as though she was physically holding herself back from immolating the young man. The way that she spent almost all of her time training or learning, specifically about how best to fight or strategize. She was a walking weapon in the truest sense of the word, and tried at almost every opportunity to maneuver herself into a position where she wouldn't be as easily beaten or attacked.

I was just glad that I had managed to get her to shake the humble and calm appearance when it was just us two, allowing me to see what I was sure was who she actually was; a vain and judgmental person that prided herself on her ability to protect what was hers. I imagine that the Change in her behavior was in response to how I treated her not as a superior or an inferior, but as an equal to be respected, which was a concept that seemed to be mostly absent from the Student body of the Academy, save for outliers like Roman and Cosma.

Everyone saw the place as a competition and thought that you could rank everyone and place them in a list to describe who was better and who was worse. What was worse was that because of how selective the process was to get in when most of them were accepting, they all saw themselves as the cream of the crop and very few could actually acknowledge when they were beaten.

Everyone thought they were on top, for one reason or another.

Thankfully the newbies weren't accepted under those conditions, and saw competition as I and Taylor saw it; a way of improving oneself. It was never a way to demean others, never a way to place yourself at the top of the Pyramid. Taylor had heard of me back at our last school specifically because we were both good at something, and she sought me out to prove that could beat me to _herself_. No one else.

I looked across the table and was met with the sneer of Davis as he emulated Ashley to a much smaller degree as he made small talk with the Board member sitting to his right, all the while shooting looks at every other student at the table. The board member was a kindly looking older lady, and she seemed to enjoy the conversation more than anything else. I looked at the other three people on the other side of the table and found them looking unsure of themselves and entirely unwilling to socialize with the others, looking defeated and jealous like Ashley and Davis had won simply by virtue of sitting closest to the Board Members.

Bloody fucking lap dogs, the whole lot.

"Dinner is served," came a polite voice of one of the servers as they placed a plate in front of me. The plate was home to very nice looking meal and I nodded in thanks towards the server. I moved to begin digging in, obviously trying to be slightly more dignified than the savage I was, before my attention was stolen by the sound of someone tapping on glass.

"Before we eat, I'd like to go over a few things about the school, perhaps even get a few statements from you students," Janette spoke in a authoritative tone of voice, and her words threatened to drag a groan from me. The board members all smiled and nodded along, somehow possessing the self control to not even _look_ at their food.

The food would be cold by the time this was done for Oum's Sake.

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

The rhythmic banging of metal on metal was the metronome of his heartbeat as he flattened out the small sheet of metal on the Anvil with a pair of tongs. Thankfully, his Orange hued Aura protected him well enough from the sparks that flew off of the Anvil with each strike of the Hammer. Roman still wore the Thick Gloves as he worked, determined not to make the mistake of many other foolhardy students that had attempted to forge without the proper protection.

Aura required control and force of will to activate and hold steady, and both of those things were sapped by the oppressive heat of the Forge.

He continued to bend the red hot steel until it was folded into itself and was about five inches long before he placed it on the Horn of the anvil and began curving it to the appropriate shape to fit his needs.

He looked over his shoulder at the Mastermind of the late-night forging as the petite girl continued to stitch more and more padding onto the Rugged pair of boots that they had managed to have delivered to the School. He smiled behind the Blast Mask he wore as Cosma stuck out her tongue in concentration as she came across a particularly rough spot of Leather and turned his attention back to the forge to continue the project.

After a few more minutes of Hammering he placed the metal in the Bucket of water with to the side of the Anvil which released a gout of steam and bubbles as the Metal rapidly cooled alongside the other piece of metal in there. He was glad to see that the sudden tempering hadn't warped the thick metal in any crazy manner, and he pulled it out to inspect the rather thick piece of metal. He placed it on the Anvil and pulled out a file to begin weathering away the imperfections of the Metal and make it an appropriate thickness.

It was an idea that Roman had been thinking on since the Outing, but like most of his plans he hadn't implemented it until Cosma came along with a similar idea. There was a thrashing of cloth as the Boots were placed on the floor with the Toes unsewn, looking like depressing sock puppets made of leather, and a Sturdy Slate-coloured Cloth jacket was pulled up onto the Table. She picked it up and it clinked a tad bit as she moved it between her hands to inspect it, before nodding after apparently finding it to her standards.

Her thought process, as she had described it, was amazingly simple; "Austin doesn't have money or stuff, so let's get him stuff."

He had been startled by the revelation, but he hadn't truly thought about their friend's situation quite enough to think that one through. When he and Taylor had shown up they had immediately eaten enough for eight people and had looked remarkably scuffed up even before their entrance exams, not to mention that he had only worn clothes that he had brought with him or had been explicitly given.

The nerve of that man, going into a fight without any proper equipment. Especially fights where the lives of comrades are potentially on the line. He set to aggressively taking the file to the Metal with a vigor that was fueled by irritation, intent on getting the Boron infused Steel to yield to his whims.

Roman suppressed the shiver that crawled down his spine as he thought back on how Austin had described how he had found his weapon.

" _I tore it off of the winch of a truck, and It's served me pretty well ever since._ "

Austin may not have been in any position to arm himself, but Roman certainly was. And Roman knew that Austin would argue against them "wasting time" on him, as he about sparring with Ashley before she put her foot down, so they had decided that forgiveness was easier to earn than permission. And seeing as the material had come in this afternoon and the Big lug was off being bored to death by a Dinner, that Ashley may have forgotten to him was entirely optional to attend, it seemed like a perfect time to start.

* * *

 _Interlude C_

* * *

" _The_ _ **Loach**_ _will descend upon the world with radiant golden wings to fight the forces of darkness and Chaos, bringing order and Light wherever he went. The_ _ **Loach**_ _will bring peace to the World and gain strength for every person saved until he will be able to save them from anything, even themselves. The only Obstacle to him shall be the_ _ **Beithir**_ _, a monster of no described form that shall descend from the Mountains and leave a path of destruction in its' wake. The Monster shall tear apart the world and any that stand in its way, and it shall be the ultimate test of the_ _ **Loach**_ _, for he either defeats the monster and returns a glorious hero or dies and leaves the Monster to rampage about the world._

 _The Texts aren't exactly clear on which will occur._ "

-A translated excerpt from the Book _The Many Mythologies of Remnant_ , by Marsha Mourie.

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 21: 1125/2100 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 40784/40748 HP Regen: 880 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1697/1697, Stm Regen: 69 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 7140/7140, Ap Regen: 179 Ap/Sec**

 **Str: (119) 126**

 **Dex: 41**

 **Con: (154) 162**

 **Agi: 8**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 84**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 850**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 23934**

 **Pistol Atk: 289**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 235 Damage.**

 **Mag; 17 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha in relation to those that you have saved [Effects can Stack].**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects for every point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

* * *

A/N: To the particular guest and anybody who agree with them (As they have assured me it is a lot of people, apparently) who left a comment about Interludes and the usefulness of them in relation to the Story, You can read the story with or without them, but they are useful for Characterization and Lore Building, and they let me write from someone with hindsight or actual deep thoughts as opposed to the Main Character.

Also, they're fun to write and read for me, so they shall be staying.

Now, there was another Guest that pointed out that the building was only twelve stories tall, but he claims to have fought through twenty-three, If I were lazy I could say that the mechanics of Dungeons made it screwy and actually effected the layout of the Building, but instead I'll be honest and admit that I made a mistake there. I had it written down as two dozen stories tall, but I think I read the note as a dozen stories in Chapter 5 and read it correctly the next chapter. Nice spot, though.

To AgFox, I can only glean so much from a one word review, but I read the chapter you reviewed on and I assume it was directed at the description of hair being a "Bush", as it's the only thing I can even consider to be "Diverse" about the chapter. To be safe, I may go back and change the description as it doesn't exactly do its job well, as I meant it more like the Harry potter Bush of hair with it being wild and uncontrollable rather than, say, an Afro. He had just taken off a headdress after all.

Just another example of me needing to be more precise in my language, I guess, if it was enough to make me second guess the wording.

To DeliriousDingo, if you ever decide to read this far after leaving a rather... scathing(?) review, I would like you to know that me and my friend had a good chuckle over your remark, as well as another from Scaunders from a while back. Honestly, that you took enough time to write out the Review makes me happy, as it means that you cared enough to leave a comment. And the reason we laughed wasn't because you were wrong, or we knew better or some other pretentious reason, quite the opposite.

You were right, he is unlikable, he is an edgelord based on power fantasies, he is a caricature of Animoo and Vidya game protagonists that I've come into contact with over the years. You understand exactly what the character is supposed to be, but you didn't see it as the Joke that I meant it as and instead thought that it was supposed to be taken seriously. And the planned character arc was always planned as someone who was an uncharismatic asshole slowly maturing and becoming a better and more enjoyable person. Either way, thank you for the review.

So, from the bottom of my heart, Thank you.

In relation to the Fic, I believe that this next arc shall showcase exactly the actual drawbacks of his Stat Configuration fairly well, with a bit of an emphasis on his Teammates and friends strengths.

Obviously, if You've seen this you have read, but if you have an issue or even just wish to insult me or the fic, please leave a Review.

Alright, I've said enough.

Jericho Out.


	21. Level 2: Part 2

"Alright," Miss Mourie said with palpable glee as she rubbed her hands together in front of her face, "Now that we've covered Strategy, important battles of the Great War, and the basics of Ruin Integration Theory as well as Spontaneous Collapse Theory, let's move on!" I looked around the room, slightly relieved to see that everyone else looked just as harried as I felt, and reached over to rap my knuckles on Shebul's desk.

He snorted and sat up straight, the bags under his eyes now more pronounced than I had ever seen them and the way that he looked through the board gave me the impression that he hadn't been sleeping well, but he made no move to ask for help. "I was awake," he said unconvincingly as he began to slump back into himself, the only support for his head was his posted up right arm.

"Ya can't lie to me, Boyo," I spoke quietly as I stared at the flowing words and shapes on the board, my eyes narrowing as they solidified into a large diamond on the board. He snorted but didn't put his head back down just yet.

Miss Mourie looked about the room at the furiously scribbling students trying to put memory to paper as quickly as they could and smiled beatifically from behind her glasses, "Can anyone tell me where the first civilizations appeared on Remnant?" her eyes roved up and down the class, but as it was only sixteen kids in the room it was an inevitability that she would land on me.

Unfortunately, we made eye contact and I fumbled for a response, "Uh, Vacuo?" Hoping that she wouldn't comment on my tone. I didn't really think much on History, which was why the class was such a pain. Math could be solved eventually, Physics you simply followed the formulas, and Biology you learned what made things tick and, more importantly for me, what made them _stop_ ticking. I wouldn't ever really need History for anything I was ever going to get up to, and as long as I had my friends along for the ride I was guaranteed to have someone much more knowledgeable on the subject than I.

"Half-correct, Mr. Staín," she nodded in my direction, "The correct answer is the supercontinent of Sanus. It isn't quite known where the first Humans appeared on Remnant, but it is widely agreed that the first city-states appeared on Sanus. It is not coincidence that the first mentions of Dust appear in the same areas, and that the original civilizations were in running competition to better utilize the resource. Dust has been, and will most likely continue, to be one of the largest factors in survivability of a Population. It's an even better predictor than food stores in that regard," The image shifted as the diamond was split up and turned into different things, in ways that ranged from automation to fabrication and to spooling the material into thread for weaving or ancient forms of Armorsmithing.

"Dust is a mysterious substance, and if I'm honest I feel rather ashamed to admit that very little has been learned over the millennia that humans have been in contact with it. Too much focus on the Hows instead of the Whys, I'm afraid. If I were in charge of this operation I would've labelled them entirely different names based on their reactions to stimuli, because they have extremely different effects on the environment depending on colour," She waved a hand behind her and the board shimmered as five distinct images of Dust appeared as she narrated what was happening to them.

"You have the Red strands, which covers the most used and most numerous kinds of Dust. These Strands have extreme exothermic reactions to stimuli, in other words they output energy in the form of Heat and light," the top dust crystal caught on fire before exploding into shrapnel, "This is the most common kind and the most utilized, everywhere from toasters to Warheads.

"You have the Blue and White strands, and a common misconception is that Blue Dust stores the _power of ice_ or some such nonsense. This is incorrect, the Dust is simply empty and without stored energy meaning that when the energy potential is crossed is sucks the heat out of the air. In extreme cases this can result in mounds of ice appearing " _from nothing"_ as water vapor is rapidly cooled in the surrounding air," the second portion of the board had arrows flowing into the Crystal until ice began to build up around it, "White Strands are Crystals that are well below the action potential of Dust, meaning that immense energy is needed to start the process of absorption. Both strands are immensely similar to the Red Strands in composition and structure, and some have hypothesized that they're all the same Dust at varying stages of entropy.

"Next, you have Yellow Strands, which act as Massive Electrolytes and easily conduct ambient heat and light into electricity and plasma when exposed to Aura. They also are great for electrical work, as they conduct signals and electricity at higher speeds than most metals," Once more the Dust sprung to live as it shimmered and jolted with sparks and little crackles of ink electricity, "And lastly, you have the Green Strands that are hollow and contract into what can only described as minor singularities that aren't self sustaining, causing drops and rises in pressure that create pushes and pulls often described as being caught in a Gale."

I blinked as the woman finally stopped in her rant, with a dusting of blush on her cheeks, before coughing into her fist. "Basically," she began much slower and controlled as the Ink on the board flowed back into a nondescript mess, "Dust is complicated and useful."

"You forgot one," I pointed out objectively, and the woman sighed before returning to her more studious and serious tone that she had been using for her rant on Dust, a rant that sounded more like it should've been in the Physics lecture over the History Class. Not that I was complaining, it was only for this reason that I could follow what she was saying on a basic level.

"Black Dust Strands are a law unto themselves. They are the most potent versions of the other Strands, are extremely volatile, and are impossible to predict as all versions of Black Dust look the same and form in the same spots deep underground. At a distance inert Black dust seems like obsidian, but when activated it will glow a bright purple. If spotted, break off immediately, **no exceptions**. " She looked around the room, and the few people that had their heads up all nodded. The rest continued writing frantically.

An explanation that had come a little late for me and Taylor, unfortunately.

The bell rung to signal the end of the period, and the sweeping sighs of relief erupted as the lecture came to an end, "Alright, We'll pick up where we left off Thursday! Read Chapter 13..." She continued to chatter and nag the students as they began to pack up.

Cosma was unceremoniously flopped from her seat by an irritated Roman, Taylor stood up and removed her earphones from her ears while her partner frantically wrote down the last of the lecture. Shebul stood with a yawn and a massive stretch above his head while Emily made a show of calmly putting her notes away without hurry. Ashley of course looked unaffected, but I could see the glimmer of relief in her eyes as she stood.

"You ready for combat class?" she asked as she swept her things into her bag, eyeing me expectantly.

I blinked at her for a moment before shrugging after not recalling whatever she was referencing, "I guess."

Cosma brushed imperceptible dirt off of the brim of her bowler hat before placing it back on her head with a snort, "He doesn't know what you're talkin' about, Ash," she turned towards me with a cheery grin as the rest of the class filed out of the room to begin heading towards the Combat Arena, "We're doing team fights today, and we're up against Team NOVA."

I stared at her uncomprehendingly, trying to recognize the Team that she was referencing, but I could barely remember our Sister Team's Name half the time. I looked at Roman, "Should I know who that is…?"

He snorted as he zipped up his bag, not even deigning to look at me as he answered the question, "Nilah's Team, ya know, the group of people who have been most responsible for your running streak of detentions?" I made a sound of understanding and moved to Follow Ashley as she exited the classroom.

"So," I began as we walked, but she seemed to have sensed my thoughts before I had even had them.

"Non-Lethal," She stated sternly, and I groaned in response. After witnessing exactly how much damage I could cause to people with very little effort, she had convinced me to agree to her demands as Team Leader. Basically, unless my life or a teammate's life was in danger I wasn't exactly allowed to use active combat skills. When I had pressed her on why her stipulation was only related to teammates and not civilians, she had informed me that I was more likely to do more harm than good.

A fact that I was forced to agree with.

That doesn't mean I was going to give up without a fight.

"They're big boys, they can take a few hits," I reasoned petulantly as the four of us slipped outside into the bright daylight.

"The team has two girls on it," Cosma informed me helpfully as Roman tried not to lose his composure at the comment.

I responded by giving her a big thumbs up and a goofy grin before amending my statement, "Big _Kids_ , I mean. Big kids that can take a few hits. Come on, Ash, Let me loose on 'em," I pleaded with the best innocent expression.

The sounds of my knuckles cracking and the clinking of my weapon may have ruined the image slightly.

"No," She shot the idea down with only a flick to my nose, "Distaste aside, they'll be our allies eventually, there is no reason to risk them coming to harm during a practice bout," I stared at her like she had grown another head, and I could see Cosma's face scrunch up in confusion behind us, before Ashley coughed into her hand and a more imperious expression overcame her normally calm or bland one, "Besides, why should you have all the fun? You've only been here for a few months, we've been here for **years** ," She gave me a positively devilish look, "Let us have a turn."

I smiled in response as Cosma let out a _whoop_ and Roman tried his best to hide his own growing smirk.

That was more like it.

* * *

 **Quest Received; [Teamwork makes the Dream Work!]**

 _ **A team fight against their tormentors is bound to get out of hand.**_

 **Objectives:**

 **-Defeat Team NOVA non-lethally!**

 **Rewards; 1000-(200 per minute) exp, + 5 Free Points, Increased Reputation with Team ACR(A)**

* * *

I brushed away the notification and looked about the arena in earnest curiosity.

Maybe it was my exposure to banter before schoolyard brawls or violence in general, but I felt as though that I was the only person of the eight on the Arena Floor that wasn't making the fight personal.

There were a few factors pointing that out to me, the biggest being the fact that Ashley had spent a solid five minutes discussing and laying out a strategy with Roman for the fight. This was odd, as we hadn't spent more than a minute on planning the entire Month we spent hunting Grimm. Another Factor was the amount of stare-downs that were occurring between my team and Team whatever-it's-called, which I had no interest in participating in.

I was much too busy watching and critiquing Team TESL during their Fight, who were still in the beginning process of implementing Teamwork. I could only wince as the Team was made of Three Duelers who focused too much on their own things to easily flow into Teamwork, and Shebul, who couldn't use his trump card without endangering his Teammates. They lost their Fight after Emily and Taylor got in each other's way and hesitated just long enough for their opponents to bring them down, and from there it was two versus four.

But it was enough of a distraction that I simply ignored Mr. G as he went about the rules of the Team fight and looked about my Team and the Enemy. The grim anticipation was mirrored on seven different faces as they readied their weapons and took their ready stances. I idly rolled my eyes as I let a few feet of my Chain uncoil and wrapped it around my knuckles to act like a heavy striking gauntlet.

The tension that they were obviously feeling wasn't something I shared, and instead of anxiety or trepidation as Foes or Rivals met on the field of battle, or however their hyperbolic thoughts were painting the _Spar_ , I felt the Steady Steel-like presence of my Aura as it did the little bit for me that it could. Maybe it couldn't empower my strikes, maybe it couldn't protect me from damage, but the solid presence seemed to soak up even the smallest of nerves that I had about losing control and pasting a classmate or deviating from the plan.

And truth be told, I was just glad that I had a simple job to do. I could do simple.

I heard Mr. G's voice dip in what was obviously a question from where he stood on the side of the Stage, and All eight of us gave our assent to his question, _and then we were off_.

No time for words or taunts as a polearm appeared in front of me with the force of an armored body behind it, but it was met with my Unyielding **[Block]** and my mailed Left fist. I stepped closer to my opponent, already feeling the Battlelust overcoming my common sense as I smiled a jagged smile. I was forced to disengage when a dust round hit me in the side and I sent skidding off course long enough for the Spearman to dance back towards where a smirking Davis was fitting another large cartridge into the underbarrel attachment on his Weapon.

I ducked and brought an elbow back as I heard the rustle of cloth, managing to land a glancing blow on the Spearman as they tried to use my momentary distraction against me by delivering a vertical swing to the back of my head. I stepped into their guard once more and grabbed the front of their Cuirass just in time to take them with me as Nilah unloaded another shot into my side. I used the extra weight to stop my movement much earlier, and spun the struggling teen into a toss that sent them careening into Nilah.

The two went down in a pile of metal and limbs before a blast of fire exploded next to where they landed to send them sprawling away from each other, the blast sending shrapnel and dust into the air that I ignored in favor or surveying the battlefield. I heard more than saw Ashley easily handling the fighter that had come her way while Roman gave a swordswoman a lesson in the Rope-a-dope as leaned in and out of her blows, making even the hits that connected do little to no damage as his Aura easily took the glancing blows each time.

His Staff twirled up to slam away the Swordswoman's feint sending the blade flying away from him with such little strength put into it, before he placed the butt of the Staff against her chestplate and pressed the nearly invisible button halfway up the shaft. The Dust round impacted on her armor at point blank range and sent her rolling towards the center of the arena where the other two were picking themselves off the ground. An explosion sounded behind me and the smoking body of the Dagger wielding combatant bounced off the Arena floor as she was flung past me.

I entered my defensive position in front of where Ashley was charging some large ball of flame over her head as Roman jauntily landed next to me leaning on his staff in a deceptively casual way. As our enemies stood from their positions I watched as they took turns noticing the giant ball of fire being constructed with looks of terror on their faces. I snorted and unholstered my pistol and popped two shots into Nilah, just to keep his attention on me and Roman.

He bared his teeth in a very undignified manner that was magnified by the unruly way that his hair looked after being bounced around, and there was soot and dirt covering his normally immaculate set of armor. He Mechashifted his weapon to the Spear form and rushed me at an above average pace while the Cloaked Figure with a dagger tried to jump over me and reengage with Ashley. The other two combatants looked a little worse off and moved towards Roman in a similar fashion.

My Chain shot out and wrapped around the ankle of the cloaked fighter as she passed over me and I pulled down and around to spin her towards Nilah as he charged. The chain disengaged with a flare of her Aura enough for her to slip free and fly towards her leader, who responded by sliding under her while shifting his weapon to unload a clip on me that went ignored as he stumbled to his feet. My weapon came around once more, singing as the wind whistled through the links and alerting Roman to its position, and I slammed it down into where my opponent was in an explosion of dust and tile.

The armored figure rolled out of the smoke and had I not possessed enhanced Senses I would have been blindsided by the much faster Opponent as they burst from the smoke with their Knife drawn back, ready to stab. But as it stood, my Pistol came down in an untrained and unrefined way to deliver a hefty Pistol-whip to the back of her neck while my Chain swung in an uncontrolled manner vertically to catch Nilah in the chest and send him back a few feet. I ducked under the blow of the Swordswoman that was deflected by Roman and planted a savage Punch into her Kidney as I turned into her, the blow putting her off balance enough for a deft spin of the Staff landed the Butt of it across her jaw to send her sliding to meet the other members of her team as they stumbled to their feet.

There was also some sparkling yellow wire at their feet.

" **Cosma**!" I yelled as the thought finally hit me, delighted to see an extremely dirty but bright-eyed girl appear to the side of our opponents, cackling gleefully with a detonator in hand. It still put me off that she could mask herself from most of my senses with a simple activation of her semblance, **[Mesmerize]** , and she could convince my brain that she wasn't there. I could still smell her in a stable environment, but in the middle of battle was another thing entirely. The best part of the semblance was that it wasn't Invisibility in the traditional sense, it was simply a trick of the mind that relied on Saccadic Masking and a minor illusion to make people focus on something else.

Which means that people don't even realize that she's missing.

" **Keep 'em Still!** " I bellowed, to which she responded by pressing the button on the detonator. The Yellow and Green dust lit up and before our opponents could react a field of electricity had encircled them, and as three out of four were wearing armor, the Team soon found itself unable to control their muscles and fell to the ground spasming. The contraption was jury-rigged, as most of what Cosma built were, and only lasted a few seconds at most.

But Ashley only needed a few seconds to begin with.

With a Yell of exertion she heaved the globe of fire the size of a Van towards the downed team as we scattered and threw ourselves to the ground. I heard the cloaked one scrambling to stand up, but the projectile still caught all of them in it, and from the direction my head was turned I watched as the Aura bars of our enemies fell from Lower Greens to Deep into the reds in that single attack.

"Team ACRA are the winners!" Mr. Gibraltar called from the sidelines, and the screen powered down shortly after.

* * *

 **Quest Completed; [Teamwork makes the Dream Work!]**

 _ **A team fight against their tormentors is bound to get out of hand.**_

 **Objectives:**

 **-Defeat Team NOVA non-lethally!**

 **Rewards; 400 exp, + 5 Free Points, Increased Reputation with Team ACR(A)**

 **Bonus Objectives:**

 **-** _ **Crushing Defeat**_ **\- Win with 3 or more Teammates still active.**

 **Bonus Rewards; 250 exp and [Team Player] Trait.**

* * *

 **Trait received; [Team Player];** _ **No 'I' in Teamwork!**_

 **Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Teamwork]: Level 1 (Passive); Requirements 15 Cha and 15 Int/[Team Player];**

 _ **Those that play together win together, those that play alone lose alone.**_

 **\+ (Lvl/2 + Cha/10)% to all stats when in when working with one or more person/people.**

 **Current Bonus: .6%**

 **(** _ **Temporary buffs to Pool Stats (Int, Res, Con) do not affect the Overall Pool, only the Regeneration and their effect on Active Skills.**_ **)**

* * *

I stared at the insanely useful skill for all of five seconds before I hopped up to my feet and dismissed it to look around at the carnage that we had managed to bring upon the Arena. A building sized crater that had managed to melt down three of the ten layers of steel in the Arena Floor, Cracked Marble tiles laying askew where they used to rest without issue, shattered pieces of concrete that I believe came from the ceiling. All of this wasn't even taking into account the Amount of ash and soot that coloured the once off White platform a dark grey.

I looked upon the destruction that My team had brought upon the area and it brought a tear to my eye.

* * *

 **[You are more Grimm than I, if** _ **this**_ **makes you feel Pride, Boss.]**

* * *

With a snort I closed the Message from the increasingly content Fenrir, who had taken to sleeping through most of the Day unless I had some spike in emotions. The constant ribbing hadn't left our interactions, nor did I hope for it to.

What was life without a little Humor?

I turned towards the Crowd and I could see the pale faces of the members of Team… Uh...

* * *

 **[ORCD.]**

* * *

Whatever, the team that Taylor's team had fought looking down on the Arena while Team TESL looked more or less unfazed, though Emily did seem to be holding her head in her hands like a disappointed mother who had watched her son burp the alphabet at a school talent show.

I'm not great with analogies.

The important part was that we won.

* * *

The quick rhythm of sharp clicks were the only sounds in the Office as Janette's Nails drummed on her Desk. Her green eyes looked out from behind her glasses dispassionately, the look telling me that she was in no nonsense Headmistress mode and that her stare was having the desired effect on her students. Cosma flinched as the eyes roamed across her, and she did her best not to make eye contact with her. Ashley looked the most affected I had ever seen her as a teenager, an embarrassed and harassed blush on her cheeks from being caught showing up on her pale face extremely visible. It probably didn't help that she had been the cause of most of the damage in the first place.

Roman sat the most comfortable besides myself, as neither of us had caused or done anything even close to the destruction or possible rule breaking of our Partners, and while he may have been trying to hide his smug smile during our Leader's Dressing Down, I was not. In fact I was still having trouble controlling my laughter, which was bubbling up in little fits of chuckles. I clamped down on that with all of the control of my mind that I could muster, instantly recognizing the Steel-like quality to the action almost immediately, and made eye-contact with Janette with a wide and easy smile on face.

"On a technical level none of you broke any rules," she began once I had subsided and I could see some of the tension bleed from my Team's Shoulders, "But I expect better control from you," she looked in my direction and my smile only grew before she continued on, "Some of you at least. I hope that you'll strive to do better in the future?" she half-questioned as she began rifling through a stack of papers on her desk. The others responded silently by nodding their heads at varying speeds and fervors, but I resolutely shook my head.

She couldn't guilt trip me today, because I wasn't to blame.

She reached over and pressed the button on the smaller intercom piece I had "helped" Keith fix less than a week ago, leaning down slightly over her stack of Papers, "Colton, please send up the rest."

"So, are we free to go _Officer_?" I huffed out around the laughs of joy trying to escape me and I stood from the purposefully-not-comfy disciplinary chair that I know Mr. Gibraltar had to drag from a closet in the hall for troublemaker's like us.

"Not just yet, _Criminal Scum_ ," she returned easily as she slid a stack of papers across the desk to each of us individually. I picked mine up and found myself looking at the overview of a Town under construction, and when I flipped to the next I saw a reconnaissance mission report detailing the origins of the Town. I was pulled from my inspection when the Door opened and Taylor and Luca walked in with similar looking packets in their hands. Janette cleared her throat and leaned back in her chair as she gained our attention, "Roman and Cosma can leave, but you two stay for the briefing," They stood and saluted casually before moving quickly towards the door, but Janette started talking before they had even left the Office, "We got a request for Hunters-in-Training by Atlas for a protection detail for a developing Town named _Sahili_."

I got confirmation from Fenrir that the Place was listed in my Maps, a small place under the shadow of a mountain, which meant that it wasn't a new project, and I narrowed my eyes as I began flipping through the Pages of the Report to look for any reports of Grimm activity in the area, "Why the new interest? The place has been around for years."

Janette shot a curious glance my way, but Ashley answered the unasked question, "He likes Maps. He read an Atlas and it has stuck with him for _months_. I don't understand it," she explained glibly while Luca and Taylor simply nodded their heads in agreement while they continued reading their Dockets.

"The Recon Report from one of Shade's Huntsman detailed a discovery of Dust deep in a Cave that he was Hunting a Deathstalker in, with possible Black Dust Spires found inside. Needless to say, the SDC began pouring money and people into the Town to begin processing and harvesting the Dust," She placed her copy on the Desk and steepled her fingers as she began to explain what she actually wanted from us, "Due to the increased numbers of people, the noise, and increase in accidents surrounding Construction and Mining, Teams ACRA and TESL are being deployed to _Sahili_ to assist in the defense against Grimm if and when it becomes necessary to defend the Town or any of its assets."

"Why do they need two Teams?" Luca inquired politely, "No offense, but the SDC has a lot of Firepower behind them at the _worst_ of times."

Janette smiled deviously as she answered, "It's against the Law of Vacuo, all defensive fortifications must be overseen by a registered Vacuoan Huntsman, and I thought that the Experience might be good for some up-and-coming young Hunters-in-Training. Not to mention that one of the Hunters that you'll be shadowing is virtually new to the Job, and I wanted her near another more experienced Huntsman in case of an emergency," She reached over and grabbed another paper and slid across the desk, where Ashley caught it with her finger, "And that is the most recent overhead we have of the Town."

Taylor, Luca, and I leaned over and stared at it for a second before I turned to the front of the Docket and looked at the picture on there, "They sure work fast," I muttered as I looked down on what looked to be a settlement almost a fourth of the size of The Mount, with most of the buildings obviously cookie-cutter residential areas.

Janette snorted, "They sure found a lot of Dust, you mean," she corrected with a overly pleasant smile.

"Of course," I agreed, "But that still begs the question; _We_ have to guard this entire thing?" I asked with a hint of incredulity in my voice.

"Oh no, just the parts that get attacked," She gave nothing away as I stared at her, feeling for once the exasperation that my Teammates probably felt dealing with me, "They have their own forces, but you're going to be there as defensive specialists to man the gaps in the wall until they finish the expansion. Now, for the next week you should probably read up on your Grimm siege defense tactics, but for now get out of my office." She emphasized the statement by shooing us away with her hand before turning to her computer.

I rolled my eyes at her dismissal but saluted with the rest before following them out of the Building, waving a goodbye to Mr. Gibraltar as we passed his desk, before making our way to our Dorms. While the others chatted about the Dockets we were carrying and the specifics I let the information slip to the back of my head in favor of the small thing that was wiggling about in the back of my head. I went over the entire scene in my head, allowing Fenrir to walk me through everything I witnessed, but it was only when I was nearly in the Common Room of our Dorm.

"Roman doesn't move _anywhere_ quickly," I spoke aloud as I turned the corner, bringing me face to face the subject of my thoughts, who looked up from the Bow he was trying and failing to tie while Cosma kicked another box behind a couch before erupting into what I assume was her rendition of nonchalant whistling. Roman coughed into his fist and Cosma shrugged in response.

"We had thought you'd be a little longer," He admitted as he haphazardly finished his wrapping and placed the box on the Table in front of him while Cosma casually, all the while still whistling, stepped towards the Box she had kicked and slid it back out into the open.

"Force of Habit," She explained, before hopping over to me and Ashley and shoving us into a couch, "Now, Me and Roman got to thinkin' about the weaknesses in our team, and we Realized that _you_ ," she flicked me in the forehead while I watched her with curiosity, "Were lacking in the Battle Gear Department. So we set about fixing that before the next Trip."

"We took the measurements on your school Jackets and the size of that one Boot you had left to get you better ones for Combat," Roman explained a little more in depth as he dropped the two Packages in my lap, the fifty pounds of stuff landing in my startled arms.

* * *

 **Boron Reinforced Steel-Toed Boots;**

 **-[Boots]; Prevents Limb damage from Physical Damage to [Feet] as long as the Equipment has [Durability].**

 **[Durability] 3500/3500**

* * *

 **Blue Dust Reinforced Jacket;**

 **-[Jacket]; Prevents Limb Damage from Physical Damage to [Chest] as long as the Equipment has [Durability].**

 **-[Blue Dust Infused]; Applies [Jacket] to Magic Damage.**

 **[Durability] 2350/2350**

* * *

I looked myself up and down in the Mirror as Cosma bounced in place behind me, and I was glad to see that the Steel-Grey Leather Jacket barely went down past my Waist and the whole ensemble barely affected my ability to move as it was well within my ability to carry. I turned around to find my Team and Taylor watching me with obvious anticipation. "Uh, Thank you?" The uncertainty that I was feeling, floundering in the foreign situation becoming more and more obvious the longer it went on, "But why'd you guys do this for me?"

Roman made eye contact with Cosma and they shrugged, "Thought it would be nice to switch things up and do something for you."

Cosma nodded in agreement, "You probably have a motto or something that you think a lot, everyone does. Mine is pretty simple; "Anything for a friend."" She explained with a smile on her face, looking absolutely pleased with herself and proud of her gift, with Roman standing behind her watching her with an indulgent smile on his face. Ashley and Taylor watched form further off as they chatted quietly, observing but not commenting on the show.

I turned away from them and made eye contact with myself in the mirror, trying and failing to let the simple words affect me, but unable to stop the tide of memories that they sparked.

* * *

 _I was sat with my back to the wall in the corner of the Room, watching the groups of other children that had all formed over the first day of Kindergarten as they played with each other and their toys. I watched as they stacked blocks until they came crashing down, or they drew unrecognizable pictures together while I sat there in the corner alone. My lips tugged downwards, and the pencil in my hand crunched under my fingers. I looked down to find that I had managed to crush in my little hands. Hands that didn't look so little with the many ghosts of old cuts that lingered on the flesh._

 _I looked up and the scene had changed, no longer was I in a classroom, nor were the children playing. They were staring at me in fascination and some bit of fear as I stood among the sprawled out bodies of classmates that had tried to mess with me. The more I tried to explain the worse the looks got, until I eventually just sat down in the middle of them, all eleven of us bleeding and dirty, while my eye was already beginning to swell in its socket. I sat there in the pile of crying kids until the Teachers finally found us, and I was immediately taken to the principal's office._

 _The look the Teacher gave was the worst; a Grim look of acceptance, like she had expected me to do it._

 _The memory shifted once more, and I was standing nearly two feet taller than a second ago, walking into the preparatory high school with a frown on my face. People moved out of my way and made sure not to make eye contact with me as I passed. I shoved my hands into my Pockets and looked at the ground as my frown deepened, trying not to dwell on things and failing when my attention was stolen by a loud laugh from a girl down the hall. I saw her standing at her lockers with two other girls that I didn't recognize, and when they saw me they scrambled to get to class._

 _I cursed and shook my head as I began to orient myself around getting to class as opposed to whatever had gotten ahold of me._

 _Rain pelted at me as I stood in a stuffy suit that was a size too small and tugged at the Tie around my neck as the Twenty or so people that had showed filtered past the Headstone, some stopping to say their goodbyes, but most were content to walk by without a word. Everybody gave me some pleasantry as they passed or clapped me on the shoulder in support, but they had come to say goodbye to Nan, not support me._

 _As I stood there and even the Honor Guard had left, leaving only a Valean flag on her Grave, I said goodbye to my only Family, the one who had taught me so much and yet so little, my first and only friend, and then I found myself alone. The anger that had boiled under the surface of every Smile or word spoken for most of my life boiled over, and I was left crying angry grief filled tears in the rain, a lonely lost child once more._

* * *

I blinked myself out of my revery and found everyone in the room looking at me with odd looks on their face, but I ignored them and smiled a much softer and more genuine smile than usual, "Thanks, Guys," I said as I turned and swept the two up in a giant bearhug, eliciting grunts as I pulled them off their feet and tried not to crush the life from their bones. Cosma quickly returned the hug while Roman just looked done with life, as I dropped the two of them to the ground in a heap my smile growing wider and wider with each second.

I just couldn't get over the fact that I had friends.

I turned to the pair leaning against the wall and coughed before asking what to them was probably a stupid question, "Are you guys my friends too?" the manic smile that was still on my face seemed to be causing Ashley some distress, but Taylor answered without hesitation.

"If you're willing to put up with a rascal like me, I'm willing to deal with an idiot like you," she at the very least seemed to know what was going through my head, and grinned as she stuck out her fist for a fist bump, one which I dutifully gave her.

Ashley however brought herself under control and huffed as she brushed her ponytail over her shoulder before lifting her nose imperiously, "I usually don't do _friendship_ , but I can make an exception for you."

"So gracious of you," I played along with her before she snorted and moved from the wall, patting me on the shoulder as she passed.

"Everything's relative," she said in a lofty tone as her demeanor shifted back to her act, "Compared to you anything has grace. Now, let's go get some food," she declared to agreement of all involved. I took a step to follow, before a notification popped up.

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Connected]!**

 _ **I got friends in high places!**_

 **-Raise five or more individual Reputation scores over 50!**

 **Rewards; [Reputation:Individuals] now accurate to the Tens place without [?].**

* * *

Even the Game was acknowledging the steps forward I was taking-

"Oi," Taylor called from down the Hall, "You coming or not, 'cause I'm hungrier than hell and you're holdin' us up," she explained with her hands at her hips and tapping a foot against the floor.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'," I soothed my _friend_ , "It's not like I'm having a personal breakthrough or anything, Jeez."

I slid the Notification to the side to Squeal about later and followed the group to get some food, with a noticeable skip to my step.

* * *

 _Interlude A_

* * *

 _A single passage was carved into the Rock face in place of a name, uncovered to the Air even after Ten long years of the City being overrun and taken back by nature it was still proudly visible on that Grassy hill, standing like a sentinel at the top of a large hill in overlooking the Wall and the Residential district from behind the remnants of the old Hunter's Corps Building._

" _Unyielding, Unfettered, Unbent, and Unbroken. This is the Promise of the_ **Staín** _, Forged in Steel and cast into the Shape of Men, this promise will be kept until Death takes it from us."_

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]:**

 **Lvl 21: 1775/2100 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 41277/41277 HP Regen: 891 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1719/1719, Stm Regen: 70 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 7140/7140, Ap Regen: 179 Ap/Sec**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (121) 129**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 41**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (156) 165**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 8**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 85**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 870**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 24819**

 **Pistol Atk: 288**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 235 Damage.**

 **Mag; 17 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate a eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player];** _ **No 'I' in Teamwork!**_

 **Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

* * *

 _Alrighty then, Time to respond to some anonymous reviews._

 _To N; Everything except for Bosco Verd was correct, and I'm glad that someone is dumping the words into Google Translate or happens to recognize Chinese or horribly anglicized Arabic. The Weapon and Fighting style around the Piandao is one that I'm familiar with, as well as it being in A:TLA by Zuko, though it is possible that he was using a Quang Dao, a more localized form of the Pian dao. Either way it was fun to throw that in there, though I forgot that they named a character after the weapon, I just remembered Zuko using it._

 _To Gl; I'd actually say that for a Gamer Austin has a much smaller but much more specialized skill pool. And as someone who has a side goal of becoming one of the hardest things in the World to kill, the risk factor is limited, as is the Exp flow._

 _Review or send me and direct message if you got something to say, and thanks for reading this far, hope you are enjoying the ride._

 _That's all I really had to explain or say this time, Jericho Out._


	22. Level 2: Part 3

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _Grey tinted sunlight filtered in through the barred window and with it came the cloudy sky that overlooked the Industrial district of Vale. The afternoon air was filled with the hustle and bustle of the city, honking horns and shouts filtering through the paper thin walls of the small two room apartment. On the pull out couch situated in the Living room/kitchen hybrid sat a young man that doodled away in a battered notebook._

 _He shifted on the uncomfortable piece of furniture, a frown on his small face, as he continued to sweat in the sweltering apartment for his father to return. Green eyes looked up at the front door as the sound of footsteps sounding off as someone climbed the stairs, but his eyes returned to his work when the steps brought them past his floor. His pencil never stopped moving as he drew out the scene in his mind, the only alterations being lines reworked over old ones to better show his vision of the scene. Slowly and meticulously the eleven year old boy worked in his drawing, and so engrossed in the exercise was he that he was startled out of his trance by the sound of the lock turning._

 _He looked up as the door swung inwards to reveal a beaten down man, a man that would've stood tall had he not been slouched down, a man who would've had a beaming smile had he the energy to smile at all, and one that was leaned down by the lack of food in their lives. The tired eyes rose from the floor and met his child's and he gave his best attempt at a smile for the kid, "Hey Champ, how was school?"_

 _The young man shrugged as he put his work down, "Fine, I guess. How was work?"_

 _"Oh, you know how people get," his father answered as he slowly pulled off his jacket and hung it on the back of a rickety chair before sitting in it himself, "No matter how fast you go, people want it done faster. You'd think that they'd fill out their paperwork better if they really wanted to get through it faster, but no. Had one guy who forgot to put his name down, and then got angry when I pointed it out," He shook his head at the memory, "But enough about me, How's my firework?"_

 _"Please don't call me that," the embarrassed young man pleaded, "And much like school, I am Fine. Nothing bad, but nothing overly good either. I've spent a lot of time planning out how I'll get us out of this dump, though," He explained as he placed his Notebook in front of his father, letting the Diagrams and highly technical drawings and lists of tasks._

 _His father's eyes widened as he looked down at his son's handiwork, before wincing at some of the things listed, "Uh, squirt, some of this is pretty expensive, and I can't even understand the rest."_

 _"Yes, some of the materials would be expensive, but there are two solutions that I've thought of so far. On one hand, I could steal the stuff," he ignored his father's indignant sputtering, "Or we find someone who can afford it to buy it for us."_

 _"I don't want you stealing," his father grumbled, "Besides, why do you think you have to be the one to get us out of here, I'm the parent here!" his father joked as he poked him in the side._

 _"I don't have to be the one to do it, but I want to get us out of the slums. And I don't want you working in the DMV if I can help it," he shuddered, "The place doesn't exactly sound great. Besides, I want to pull my weight eventually, and no plan works if you don't lay the foundation correctly."_

 _The older of the two sifted through the pages before pointing out one, "How about we start here? Gymnastics. You learn this, you get fit, and you can run away from the cops better!" the father laughed at the scribbled explanation next to it, before realizing that his son was taking it seriously and sighed, "Look, I'll pony up the money for this, and then we'll see whether or not we need to go as far," he narrowed his eyes at the next page of scribbled notes, "Does that say Jewelry Heist, Roman?"_

 _"If that doesn't work, Bank robbery comes next."_

 _"Huh," his father rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "How about we stick to Legal stuff, alright?"_

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

Colton Gibraltar took measured steps up the stairs, letting his polished shoes clack loudly with each step as the warning that he was on the way, and had Janette been slacking off she would take the time to look busy. Common courtesy was his forte, after all. Either way, he looked at the manilla folders held in his left arm as he moved and let a brief smile appear under his moustache as he thought about how well the First Years were this cycle, not to mention how many more there would be next year. He moved down the hallway towards the Headmaster's Office before coming to a stop in front of the door and knocking lightly on the portal.

"Come in," his boss called from inside, and when he entered he found her sitting behind her paper covered desk with a tired smile on her face and her glasses in her hands, "Please tell me you need my help for something, these applications are starting to make my eyes burn."

"That I do," He responded and pointedly did not smile when she melted in her seat out of relief, "Though I am sad to say that it will only be a short reprieve. The board wanted a brief overview of each of the Team's specialties, and I wanted to go over my observations before I finalized the report, seeing as I'll have a bit of free time with most of my students out and about."

Janette stood and stretched as she grabbed her coffee mug to refill it while Colton laid out the four folders on top of the papers. He coughed into his hand as she sat back down in her seat and she gestured for him to start, "Go on, I'm listening."

"Team Orchid has begun specializing into Crowd Control, with two members with illusion-type semblances, a hand-to-hand grappler, and their leader has the ability to produce sonic blasts from her mouth that can stun most people long enough to be dealt with. I classified them as Escort or Defense, with a possibility in civilian tactical insertion," He looked up from the Top sheet of the File to see the Headmaster nodding along as she sipped at her mug, "Heavy reliance on Crowd Control and Teamwork, but little to no individual combat aptitude, with all four ranking in the bottom half of the class. Separation may be necessary to have them less codependent."

He shrugged and moved on, "Next is Team Nova, who I have pegged as Tactical Insertion Specialists with a heavy reliance on close combat with only one ranged options, meaning that I'd suggest Mistralian or Valean Corps simply for the terrain limitations of the Vacuoan and Atlesian Corps. Good grasp of Teamwork, but a lack of foresight and grasp of tactics by their leader tends to lead to issues. I suggest putting him against someone, maybe a staff member, maybe the combat teacher, that can teach him a lesson in humility."

Janette simply raised an eyebrow at him from behind her mug, "I'll take your suggestion into advisement, but take it out of the report we're sending to our evil overlords."

"If you insist," he agreed with a harsh line of ink being struck through the page, "Team Tesla is composed of two fast combatants, a uniquely useful Crowd control as well as a powerful Dust mage, and a leader with a good head on his shoulders. Glowing praise from _Waddayq_ after their stint as reserves, and overall a good work ethic." He slid the folders over, and then let his gaze fall to the largest of the four.

Janette smiled beatifically as she may have been tired, but she would have to be truly compromised to not recognize the last of the folders, "So far I'm inclined to agree with your assessments, but that leaves just Team Accra. Lien for your thoughts?" In her smile there was a layer of pride, as though she felt accomplished for the way things had turned out, but Colton simply shook his head.

He looked about the desk for a moment before snatching a post it note, writing a short phrase on it and slapping it onto the front of the manilla folder, "Teamwork could use work, diversity of skills need to be fleshed out, and restraint needs to be shown anytime they are near any type of civilian population. Between the Planning, a demolitions expert who can enter and exit enemy territory without being seen, or just the sheer destructive power that the Team presents I believe that they are uniquely suited to Search and Destroy missions, but a note should be placed in the file for any looking to request them to warn them, at least until I try and teach them restraint, about the risks of their involvement," he tapped the note with his pointer finger before reading it aloud, "No survivors."

Janette held her hand to her forehead, "Not the easiest thing to advertise, is it? Can't you think of anything a little," she waved her other hand as she smile sardonically, "Poetic?"

"Of course I can, but I assumed that you wouldn't like my assessment," he explained blithely, standing at attention in front of her desk as though awaiting a court martialing, but instead found her shaking her head with a fond smile on her face.

"Of course not, the observation is a well founded one. I'm just trying to think of how to make it sound more appealing for the board," her head tilted to the side and a look of understanding came over her face before she began tapping her fingers on the desk, "I think I got something, I just need to remember what it's called."

She stood up and moved towards the bookshelves lining the right side of her room before scanning the beaten up old spines of books. After a moment of looking she grabbed a book and flipped it open to the Table of Contents and nodded her head, "There we go, that's what I was thinking of; An old Mistralian tactic from the olden days."

She slapped the book on the table and Colton leaned down and read the old text aloud, "Vastatio? What's it mean?"

"Destroy or burn what cannot be protected," she quoted from the same text, and rolled the words around on her tongue, "What the Atlesians referred to as "Scorched Earth Policy" during the Faunus Rebellions."

Mr. Gibraltar stood up tall and thought about it before nodding, "Fitting. But now we have to think of similar references for the other teams," He explained as his boss gave him a look, "Wouldn't want to be accused of favoritism, now would we?"

Janette could only close her eyes and sigh in defeat as imaginary piles of paperwork began to form in her mind.

Become the Headmaster, they said. It would be fun, they said.

They lied.

* * *

 _End of Interludes_

* * *

It was with sullen eyes that I looked at the Docket for our mission, having gone over it at least three times in total just today. I opened the door to the dorm and brushed by someone I didn't care to recognize, which meant that I at least gave her the courtesy of holding the door open instead of letting it slam into her face, as I stared at the newest aerial photo of the Town and did mental measurements based on what I knew about landmarks, such as the size of the sizable hill mountain that the Town was built around the foot of, as I looked at the relatively small gap in the wall.

According to my rough estimate, and Fenrir's _ruff_ estimate, the gap was over a hundred feet wide.

Now, a hundred feet doesn't sound like much when you're walking or throwing, but to defend it was entirely different. We had eight people to defend it, which meant that we each had to cumulatively guard twelve and a half feet of it on average. Against a few roaming Grimm it wouldn't be an issue, but anything over ten was looking for trouble.

Holding it against more than twenty would be hell.

Holding it against more than fifty would be impossible.

I pressed my palm against my forehead and called upon my Aura to sooth me, and like a drink of cool water it washed away the annoyance. It would be dealt with in time, I was sure of it. Maybe if the planets aligned just right, it wouldn't even be an issue. I readjusted the strap of my bag as I walked into the Common Room to find my quarry sitting on two seater couch, unnatural posture and well maintained facade in place as usual. Ashley cut her eyes at me before slumping into the cushions of the couch enough for me to notice.

I raised an eyebrow at her as she continued looking at the docket herself, but mostly ignored it in favor of shrugging off my Bag, "You must have been distracted if you didn't know it was my ass walking this way," I commented as I threw myself into the seat next to her and began shuffling through my bag, "I make my own unique sounds, hard to mistake for something else."

"I was simply rereading the Folder," she explained as she turned the page, "Again, I might add."

I pulled out the piece of fabric that I was looking for and shot her a look when she didn't continue on in her explanation, "Somethin' on your mind, Girlie?" I questioned slowly as I pulled out the rest of my materials and a needle.

"Oh nothing much, I suppose," she began in a way that made me question the validity of her statement, "Just trying to wrap my head around what we're going to be doing for the next month, wondering how much of this will be done in our stead by our tag-along, and contemplating exactly how badly this will be for the Academy if we fail," I looked up from the needle and thread that was in my hand to find her hands fisted in her hair and the skin around her eyes tightened in a look I had seen on Nan often enough.

"Worrying won't help," I stated bluntly as I tried to fit the thread through the eye of the Needle, but unfortunately this was a much smaller needle than I had used in my room on the Mount, the last Time I had deigned to utilize my [Sewing] skill. I felt the ambient heat surge around us, and I turned to meet the wild eyes of my Leader with an apologetic smile.

Her left eye twitched as she stared at me with her hands still balled in her hair, which fell out of her usually meticulous ponytail, " **Ya don't say.** "

I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment with a weak chuckle.

I had been shite at helping Nan relax too.

"Let me rephrase," I spoke clearly as my hands deposited the tools in my lap before moving to hers and dislodging them from her hair, "You shouldn't spend time worrying that could be spent preparing," as her hands dropped into her lap I wagged a finger and put on my best Nan impression, turning my voice even more gravelly, yet higher pitch than before, "You have more control over the future than you want to admit, because to admit this is to admit that a bad world, a bad future, is just as much your fault as a good one. A scary thing indeed, but its only scary if you aren't ready for the future, if you haven't put in the work," I intoned, repeating the lines that Nan had imparted to my nearly broken form on the top of a muddy hill.

Ashley stared at me with a blank stare, before she narrowed her eyes at me, "Ah yes, but that just begs the question; Where did that come from?"

I coughed into my hand before I gathered up my tool once more, "I may or may not have once complained about how badly I was going to fail a test to my Nan," I shrugged my shoulders as I once more tried to get the stupid little thread through the stupid little hole.

Her smaller and faster hands reached out and snatched the needle and thread from mine, "It's like watching a toddler try and fit a block into the wrong hole," she said as she shook her head. She pulled a length of the thread into the palm of her hand and rolled the needle across it, and before my eyes the process pulled the material through the hole before she tied it off and made to hand it back before pulling it away with narrowed eyes, "If you have that much wisdom in your head, why do you still act like a moron? If it came about because you failed a test, why do you still not study for tests or do homework?"

"Ah, that's where you're wrong. It happened because I complained about failing. Now I do the same thing, entirely aware of the consequences of my actions and entirely willing to admit that they are my fault," I pointed out with a carefree smile as I tried and failed to grab the Needle from her hand, "It's actually one of the only things I put effort into when it comes to my words; Don't complain about things in your control. Everything that is legitimately outside of my hands is fair game, of course."

Her other hand shot up and caught mine by the wrist, "You do complain remarkably little, so I guess there is some truth to your statement," she agreed as her amber eyes narrowed once more, "More importantly, what is a savage like you doing trying to sew?"

I immediately floundered as the heat began to rush to my cheeks, "W-well, I knew that we were gonna have two hours in between the Tests and when we left for our trip," my hands meekly grabbed the piece of mostly tattered bundle of Navy Blue cloth in my lap and held it aloft in front of me as though a shield for her gaze, which was immediately drawn to it, "And I wanted to sew the Hood of my last Jacket onto the new one. Thought it would be nice."

I looked down at the cloth as it rolled out into the barest scraps of my hoodie, the Zipper long gone, with the only parts still intact after the fight against the Deserters in the Forest being the Shoulders and the Hood, the rest in tatters and torn apart or threadbare. "Why would you want to do that? It's plenty nice already," Ashley questioned with only curiosity in her voice. Which was fortunate in a way, as had there been any condemnation I probably would've just brushed it off and diverted conversation.

"Between that and this knife," I said as I picked up the knife I was planning on using to cut the thread from the spool, "It's all I have left from Nan. Physically at least. I still have her name, her words, and a bit of her Soul, but I just wanted to keep it close if I could," I shrugged as I sank into the couch, "I know it's stupid, but it's what I was gonna do." I scratched at my chin as I expected her to laugh or something else to poke fun at me, but instead all I got was the jangling of metal.

I looked over at her, and found her fishing a necklace out from under her shirt. The long chain fell out and dangled from her fingers, and at the bottom of the chain rested two rings, one a little bigger than the other. My eyes lifted to her face and found what was probably the only true smile I had seen from her to date, it was small, melancholic and a touch sad, but it reached her eyes and that was odd to say the least. "It's not stupid," she said quietly, "I understand better than anyone, thanks to you," and as quickly as the moment had come it was gone as she replaced the ring and she was back to the colder person I was used to at this point, "But I don't want you messing with the jacket, I'd never hear the end of it from Cosma if you destroyed the thing somehow."

I looked at the cloth in my hands sadly, "Yeah, you have a point I gue- Oi!" I exclaimed as she pulled the remnants of my Hoodie from my hands.

"Which is why I'll help you, just this once," and she poked my shoulder forcefully as she frowned and looked down her nose at me, "And you better be grateful, because I hate sewing." I laughed as she began measuring out and pulling at material to see what she was working with before barking out orders that I was left scrambling to acquiesce to, with Lengths of Threads to cut, how much of the Hoodie was scrapped, etc. as she began to undo some of the stitching to "do the job properly," whatever that meant.

* * *

Bleary eyes stared holes into the metal floor as I watched my [Status] page and hated life as the number slowly but surely ticked upwards and I felt progressively worse.

* * *

 **[Airsick: Stage 2]; 67%**

* * *

"I thought you guys were kidding," Hazel observed clinically from his position next to Miss Mourie, but I could only groan from my position on the floor of the Bullhead, trying and failing to pull myself together.

Taylor looked up from her book and stared at me dispassionately, "Not quite. Believe it or not, it was worse the first time. He was so focused on not puking on me that he couldn't focus enough to hear or see, it was actually kind of impressive," I flopped a hand towards her in an attempt to gesture rudely at her, but aborted halfway through. The motion had disrupted my Aura and now it was another minute to get the thing back up and running to help me feel better. Taylor laughed, "But look at him, able to hear and shit. Progress."

"I thought I was sparing him a gruelling journey by making him get on the Bullhead," Hazel admitted somberly as he scratched his forehead in consternation.

"I'm already making note of it for whenever I need to get a point across," Ashley declared with a smile from her seat in the corner of the Hold, leaning up against both of our Bags, looking inordinately pleased with the outcome, the sadistic bitch, "Who knows when he'll choose to be stubborn?"

"Fuck," I grit out around the bile threatening to creep up my throat, "You." I couldn't help the sour mood as Fenrir had been laughing since we had seen the Bullhead, but he was doing his part and trying to find some skill under the System that I could use in the future.

So far, no luck.

"It's so weird to see him like this," Cosma observed as she poked at my back to elicit groans of pain, "I'm used to seeing him confident and strong, not as a pile of person groaning and weak."

"Disappointed?" Luca asked from his position near the Cockpit, sitting enviously still and with poise. He sounded mostly curious and polite, but there was a bit of urgency in his voice that I couldn't understand. I turned my head slowly away from the floor that I had been smashing my face into until I could narrow my eyes at the young man and take a big sniff. I smelled the sickly scent of sweat and heard his heartbeat pounding, like he was sick.

"Not really," Cosma declared as she stood up and moved over to where Roman was somehow managing to sleep, "Just proves he's still human."

"You havin' trouble over there?" I gurgled from my place on the floor towards the more subtly struggling Luca.

"Not as much as you are," he answered without opening his eyes, and when he moved his hands I noticed the glow of his Aura as he undoubtedly used the same trick as I was, "but trouble enough. I have the excuse that it's genetic, as everyone in my family has it."

I grunted in acceptance and waited for my vision to stop swimming before I responded, "Sucks." Not my most eloquent moment, but it got the point across. I mean I was looking at an 80% decrease in how much status effects worked on me, but I was still knocked to the floor by such a simple debuff. And Luca didn't even have the luxury of being nearly immune to the effects like I did.

Luca simply nodded his head, "Agreed."

When we hit the next patch of turbulence it wasn't just us two that looked shaken, with Miss Mourie squawking as she was thrown out of her seat and Taylor grabbing onto the loops of fabric that hung off the walls of the cargo hold. I suddenly found myself at the bottom of a dogpile, with five people bouncing and sliding towards my position and myself unable to do anything.

Or more like unwilling to do anything, as that would put my Aura exercise in jeopardy. And it wasn't like they could hurt me accidentally, so I simply lay there underneath them until the turbulence subsided.

The door to the Cockpit flew open to reveal Emily managing to look graceful on the Bullhead while Shebul looked just as haggard as the rest of us. She looked about the Hold, "Grimm, they came out of nowhere and hit the Bullhead. About fifteen Griffons and a few juvenile nevermore are all tailing us currently."

I could feel the people piled on top of me seize in anxiety before they all exploded into action, which basically meant stomping and elbowing me until they were standing. I was focused on my hearing as bits of information made themselves known, such as the scrabbling of claws on metal followed by the rending of metal. I groaned as my aura retreated inwards once more as my arm reached out and shoved Roman forward just in time.

The metal burst inward as the head of a griffon entered the Hold, and for a moment everything was still. All of the humans froze at the suddenness of the entry, and the Griffon was frozen on the spot as it stared at them and tried to pick out dinner. Before anyone could do anything the beak locked onto my shoulder and I was ripped through the Hull.

The moment the Air hit my face and adrenaline hit my system I could move again, and my right hand shot out to snatch the beating wing of my captor, a wing that I tore asunder with my Strength alone. With one of its wings gone we fell like a stone, a struggling mass of limbs and feathers.

An elated whoop escaped me as I was pulled into freefall and I felt the [Airsick] debuff begin to remove itself and my hand gripped onto the feathers of my opponent. It struggled to right itself in the air, and I assume I made it no less difficult as I slammed a [Thundering Blow] into its side. I looked around and saw the rest of avian Grimm circling or diving towards me as me and my new buddy fell towards the sand, which looked clear enough to land on.

I activated **[Smackdown]** just in case.

I caught the swinging limb of the Damaged Griffon and pulled, tearing the creature in two as we fell, but it was soon replaced by another and more, the avians mobbing around me as we grew ever closer to the ground. I proceeded to do my best to just punch them out as they made small unnoticeable divots in my skin and health, snarling and grinning at the same time as the savagery began to speak to me. I grabbed the nearest one by the head and pulled on it to use it as leverage, managing to extricate myself from most of the ball of Grimm and limbs and put myself squarely on top. I rained down blow upon blow as more and more Grimm died or were unable to fly.

We hit the ground in an explosion of sand, blood and black ichor.

Nothing in the crater moved save myself and the Notification that popped up in front of my face.

* * *

 **Quest Received; Hop, Skip, and a Jump!**

 **You ever feel emasculated thinking about the fact that the main way you travel is by skipping?**

 **-Make your way to Sahili!**

 **Rewards; +500 exp and +2 Free points.**

* * *

"Always something," I grumbled as I jumped out of the crater, only to find myself in a rather craggy ravine, with tall walls littered with cracks and rocks. I narrowed my eyes and activated [Instinct] as I scanned my surroundings and filled in my Mini-map. The area spread out before me and the Directional line on my Mini-map appeared as more and more of the Map was revealed in the dusky afterglow of the setting sun and now unnaturally still air.

A shrill chirping sounded from my pocket and I fumbled for my Scroll as it began to vibrate and chirp. I stared at the thing wondering why the things no longer had buttons before I slid my finger across the screen, leaving a line of quickly evaporating black mush, and borderline yelled into the Scroll, "Jim's whorehouse, you got the dough, I gotta hoe. How can I help you?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line, "You fall out of a Bullhead, and that's how you answer your scroll?" I laughed and tried to imagine the heat that she was most likely radiating in the Cargo Hold.

"If I can't have fun In the middle of No Man's Land, where can I?" I laughed into the Scroll as the adrenaline carried the last of airsickness out of my body. I took a step forward and growled to myself when another screen popped in front of my eyes.

* * *

 **You are about to Enter a Dungeon!**

 **Recommended Level: 31.**

 **Proceed?**

 **[Y/N]**

* * *

I declined and tried to move forward, but simple walked face forward into an invisible wall and the notification popped again. I declined and tried again, but the notification popped no matter which way I tried to move. Finally it popped one final time with a separate message from Fenrir.

* * *

 **[Looks like you fell directly into the middle of the Dungeon, you can't get out unless you go through it. Technically you could decline and sit here and starve, but somehow I think you might be against the idea.]**

* * *

"Alright Ash, Looks like I've got a bit of an issue, so I may be a little late getting to the Town," I explained calmly as I tried to reason out exactly what I needed to do. But instead of a yell of anger or outburst of surprise or anything else I might've expected from my partner, there was none of that, only silence broken by the sounds of the Bullhead.

The silence was interrupted by a muffled sigh, "Can't take you anywhere," I heard her repeat my message in a much more direct and clipped method before returning to the call, "How long?"

"Let me see," I pulled up the Minimap and zoomed out until I could see the actual distance between me and Sahili, "Tomorrow morning if I came in loud, two or three days at a run."

"Keep it quiet, we can't afford civilian casualties," She declared in her imperious tone, "But don't let anything get in your way. I don't like having you out of my sight for long."

"Yeah, Got it," I accepted as the red hues began to leave the Sand and brown sandstone of the Ravine. With the coming darkness my Hearing began to pick up scratches and hisses from the shadows and the cracks. "I won't bring any baddies back with me if I can help it."

"Just make sure you do come back, alright? I have about four people trying not to act like they're panicking, so you'd probably be missed."

I pulled the Scroll away to stare at it in amusement, "Probably? You fucks would never survive without me and you know it," I declared with a smile in my voice even as the call began to crackle in and out as the Range of the Scroll was beginning to be reached, "Of course I'll come back."

The harsh crackling began to pick up in volume, but I could pick up the last sigh and chuckle before the call fully went out. I replaced the device in my pocket and Accepted the Dungeon notification before I began to prepare for what I assumed would be a pretty grueling battle. I watched as the Ravine grew out of the ground and created a Ceiling for the Dungeon and felt the dryness of the air be replaced by the wholy unnatural stagnant and neither damp nor dry air.

After a Moment I found myself in the pitchest black I had ever experienced.

* * *

 **Dungeon Instance Started; [Cave of the Nundu]!**

* * *

I closed the screen and took in a deep breath in the dark and quickly freezing cavern, "At least I can still see my Mini-map," I commented dryly on the largest thing I could still see, which meant anything still on my HUD. The issue was that it was in Dungeon self-mapping mode, so no hard lines or guidance line. But before my eyes dots were popping up alongside the noises I could hear and the vibrations I could hear.

 **Because nothing could ever be easy.**

* * *

Taylor stood by the Bullhead with her partner when the thing had landed, and she felt that she had earned the reprieve from the rest of the bitches who had spent the last hour and a half of the flight complaining and moaning about Austin being snatched out of the sky by a monster. Like that was even out of character for the guy.

Ashley kept up a strong face, but Taylor could see the tension in her shoulders and the way she was distracted. Emily was mostly shell shocked while Shebul looked like he wasn't quite accepting the absurdity of the situation. Cosma was the most obvious as she flitted about her boytoy, who seemed to be handling it the best outside of herself. He was smiling and keeping some people calm, Cosma and Miss Mourie mostly, while laying out the exact reasons why Taylor wasn't concerned.

The Dude was a beast, and hard as hell to kill. It was that simple.

She looked up from the sprawled form of her Partner as he took a page from Austin's book and laid down to recover quicker to find a group of five people in SDC dress uniforms making their way to their position. Leading the Procession was a tall figure that stood prim and proper with a sword sheathed at his side even in his formal dress uniform while the others stood without a weapon. He had Brown wavy hair that surrounded his face, accentuating the regal cheekbones and the chips of ice that one might have mistaken for eyes, but Taylor would never admit it.

They looked like someone had shoved pieces of Blue Dust into his corneas.

He came to a stop in front of the spread out group in the hangar and gave them his best customer service smile and a small bow, "Greetings Teams ACRA and TESL to Sahili, I'm sure the flight was rough for all of you, so please follow me and I'll get you to your rooms so you can rest."

Most of the Group snapped off a quick salute before moving to gather their bags, but Taylor scoffed openly, "Why do they get the red carpet treatment Freddy? Why not sic some of your Troops on us for old time's sake?" she smiled and shook her head in wonder.

"I saw how that went with just two, I shall not be trying my luck again with eight," he responded in kind with his smile still in place, while the older and more decorated soldiers looked appalled at him, "or Seven if the Pilot's message came in correctly. Did the big lug honestly get pulled out of the Bullhead by a Griffon?" he questioned as he moved forward and extended his hand in a professional handshake.

"Yup," she answered, putting extra emphasis on the p to make it pop, as she shook his hand heartily, "If you're here does that mean Spietzel is here as well?"

"I'd be a bad military dog if I didn't follow my master, now wouldn't I?" he returned in Jest before sobering slightly, "He's busy and you lot look tired, so I scheduled the meeting and briefing for Tomorrow. Do you think we should send out a search party for Austin?" he asked in a semi-serious manner.

"Missing him already?" Taylor returned as the Other members reconvened with gear in hands, Roman holding the tattered courier's bag that Austin used for his toiletry bag. She helped Luca to his feet and handed him his bag before actually answering his question seriously, "Give him a few days, if he doesn't make it back in three days I'll go out looking for him. I can cover the most ground, so I'd be the best choice. And from the looks of things," She said referencing the state of emergency the Place seemed to be in, "You don't have a lot of manpower to spare."

"True enough," he agreed before turning and adopting his false smile for dealing with bigwigs, "Please follow me."

Taylor snorted and waited to follow up the rear, only realizing that her normal buddy wasn't there to snark with. She sighed, and sent up her own thoughts and prayers for the guy. Maybe he wasn't in danger, but it was probably gonna be annoying not being able to complain to anyone. She wished him godspeed.

"As you can see," Friedrich called as the group of fourteen walked down the bright white metal walkways that were surrounded on one side by a line of cookie-cutter houses and on the other by an almost industrial road, "The SDC is putting a lot of resources into this place. State of the art hardware and software and a large amount of manpower to help build the place as quickly as can be done.

"If you look up at the top right corner of the buildings, you will notice a speaker," there were little white boxes on each of the buildings, not unlike the PA system of the school, "These will be periodically going off to relay messages to certain areas of the Site, but they are loud enough to be heard over heavy machinery, so you should probably get used to them or a lack of sleep," he threw a smile over his shoulder, "Your choice."

He walked by a sign and pointed to it as he went, "For the workers and yourselves, or for anyone who loses their way really, there are signs every four intersections that are interactive and can give you the directions to wherever you need to go, but you'll get the hang of the place quickly. Now," he said as he stopped in front of a house and gestured with his arm, "This is where the Students will be staying. Please make yourself at home, and if you need anything while you are staying here there is a functioning and fully stocked commissary about three blocks to the north. Mister Rainart, Miss Mourie, please follow me to your Lodgings."

Taylor gave him a quick mocking salute before she followed the rest of her cohorts into the Sparsely furnished house. Grey and whites everywhere, metal doors and appliances, and tile board floors as opposed to the more expensive or harder to keep Wood and carpet. Overall, it was a spartan dwelling that had an upstairs and a total of ten rooms. The place wasn't large, but it was the second largest place she had slept in besides the Dorm.

The room that she took was basically a broom closet sized room with a bed and a dresser. It was tiny and had quite literally no floor space.

She'd make it work.

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank] Lvl 21: 1775/2100 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 41277/41277 HP Regen: 891 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1719/1719, Stm Regen: 70 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 7140/7140, Ap Regen: 179 Ap/Sec**

 **Str: (121) 129**

 **Dex: 41**

 **Con: (156) 165**

 **Agi: 8**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 85**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 870**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 24819**

 **Pistol Atk: 288**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 260 Damage.**

 **Mag; 17 Damage.**

* * *

 _There is quite a bit of symbolism that I have packed into this story, but I thought that I'd detail this one out, just to write it out. Because It's actually a bit about storytelling that others can use, and that English teachers would have a field day with. Traditionally, when a mythological hero is detailed in a story he is taught by an elder who is wise beyond their years, meant to symbolize inherited knowledge, and the Hero soaks it up and applies it either exactly as they were taught or however they adapt it themselves, symbolizing innovation or talent in the world. Along their quest they receive boons and gifts for either their deeds or out of necessity which invariably become the only thing holding together a Hero on their journey._

 _Very clearly, I am placing a lot of emphasis on the Reception of a gift, as well as his seeming reverence for any gift he receives, as he is a deeply broken person, having been denied friendship and never being able to interact with anyone his age outside of fights due to his appearance. Loneliness turned into anger and extreme protectiveness of those that did interact with him. The Hoodie he started off with is a symbol of a promise he was simply unable to keep, as no amount of anger or rage could fight off death, and the new Coat is a new promise to keep his new friends safe._

 _All of this, the anger and resentment, the unbridled fury and overall violent disposition, the emphasis of the [Grimm] skills, and all the other stuff in the Tutorial arc is tied together with the Ragged Hoodie and adherence to paying back perceived debts. The Next bit of it is him trying to find his place in the civilized part of society, and with it comes the new duds, but obviously he doesn't want to make a clean break like Taylor has, as symbolized by the much more mellow and happier tone and the loss of her Leather Jacket, and still relies on what he knew as a child and all the feelings that come along with the process._

 _This displacement in time cannot be bridged with Taylor, who is focusing on moving forward and leaving her darker past behind, and instead he finds Ashley, someone he met in the past and reunited after he began to mature, who quite literally sews the two pieces of Austin together, and I thought I'd make it more obvious what her role is in the story. A reminder that despite how he sees himself or his past, he did help people and he did manage to do some good, somehow._

 _That the savagery that is in his heart is a potent and powerful force, ready for him to call back on it at anytime._

 _Anyways, as always Leave a review or send me a DM if you got something to say and I'll try to respond to it._

 _Music selection;_

 _Sahili Arc Austin- "There's a Wolf in my Heart" by Heidevolk and "Ode to Fury" by Miracle of Sound._

 _Janette- "Save my Soul" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (No I am not joking, that is the name of the group)._

 _Alright, that's my part said._

 _Jericho Out._


	23. Level 2: Part 4

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _A linoleum tiled kitchen reflected the red and blue hues of dusk that came in through the window over the inhabitants of the log cabin as they sat around the small wooden Dining table. Lying across the table were a pair of gauntlets under a sheathed Nodachi, as their owners stared at each other as the sun set outside._

 _With a heavy sigh, one filled with acceptance and sadness, "I can't believe you're leaving." Steady blue eyes met red in a silent staring match, but the red lost the match as she looked away. Her eyes fell on the blonde toddler that was sitting on the ground, teething on something plastic. The sight made her smile, a small brittle little thing from someone who didn't smile often, and filled her with warmth and the sense that she was making the right decision._

 _Black hair was tossed over a porcelain white shoulder as she turned to look back at her partner, in every sense of the word, and shrugged her shoulders lightly, "That was Naive of you. I told you about this the day we were made partners." He shot her a look of anger, and she responded by arching her brow, "The sex wasn't_ _ **that**_ _good. I made a promise, and I intend to keep it."_

 _Taiyang glowered at her as she sat across from him, "I know what you're doing, so you can fuck off with that. Five years of dealing with you has tipped me off to your techniques, not to mention I saw you do the same everyday to Qrow," Raven let out a sigh as she turned back to Yang as she rocked back and forth on the ground, but Taiyang continued, "You won't be able to make me hate you. You aren't good enough to undo five years of good memories with an evening of bad ones, so Stop."_

" _What am I supposed to do, leave you lonely and sad? My way you'd just be pissed," She fired back, more than a little disgruntled at being called out._

 _Taiyang placed both of his hands on the table and gave her his best_ _ **dutiful husband**_ _look, "You can always stay."_

 _She sighed, "No, I really can't. If I don't go back, there will be no one to reign the family in, and they'll just pillage anything that moves and forget all about the protection deals the family has. Villages lose their roaming band of bodyguards, get pillaged, and people die," she shook her head at the thought, "This is the best way."_

" _Then we could come with you," Taiyang said desperately, but Raven shook her head in disagreement._

" _The family may have the Strength to do a lot of good, but only if they are forced," She looked him in the eyes, "I'm going to have to do bad things to keep them in line, and the family is going to do bad things no matter what I do. I don't want either of you anywhere near that." She stopped talking as yang began babbling to herself, and she looked down with a sad smile, "Do what you must and tell her the truth, tell her I ran away to go join a band of murders as opposed to being her mother."_

" _That's not the truth and you know it," Taiyang snarled bitterly as he leaned back in his seat, looking like he needed Qrow and a bottle more than ever, "She'll hate you. You're burning a bridge that hasn't even been properly built yet."_

 _Raven frowned and shot a look over at the blonde little tyke that was beaming up at them from the floor, wondering if she could actually hate anything, "She's my daughter, she's strong. She'd get over it."_

 _Taiyang shook his head in disagreement, "She's also_ _ **my**_ _daughter, and I can guarantee that she_ _ **will not**_ _get over it."_

 _She stood and grabbed her sword, "If I'm honest, I'll accept her hating her mother over becoming her mother," She walked around to him and planted one last kiss on his cheek before moving towards yang and hugging her for the last time, "I'll break the cycle if it's the last thing I do. She'll be better than me. She has to be." She placed the child back on the ground as Taiyang stood up, but she was already stepping into the swirling red and black of a portal. "Raise her well, Tai," was all he heard as it swirled shut behind her, leaving him alone with his daughter and the house he built._

 _He slumped back into his chair and put his head in his hands, simply listening to Yang as she tried and failed to roll over on the floor._

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

 _Perceptive Amber eyes watched the children around her as she tried her best not to stand out as she emulated a few of the more subdued children and drew pictures. Her eyes darted around the classroom and tracked who was doing what; The group of children all playing make believe as though one child was a hero rescuing a damsel from the rest of the group, The pair in the corner of the room playing with toys, The young boy that had stuffed himself into a standing closet when no one was looking, and even the child who had discreetly discovered the wondrous effects of huffing glue._

 _The teacher managed to scope that one out by virtue of scent._

 _She turned to the girl that seemed to be the most even-keeled of her classmates, though whether that was due to her recent transfer into the school or actual temperament remained to be seen. The blonde eight year old somehow felt her eyes and looked up to meet them, releasing a large white grin, "My Name is Emily Donlevy. Pleased to meet you," and extended a hand towards her._

 _Ashley accepted the handshake and gave the girl an equally fake and polite smile, "Ashley Charbon, likewise."_

 _The blonde let go of her hand and shot a look of distaste as a ball of paper soared over their heads from the group of rabble rousers. "This_ is _the Future hunter's Corps class, right? Why is everyone acting like a fool?"_

 _Ashley quirked an eyebrow at her, "Children will be children," She verbally shrugged as she continued her observation of the room while finishing off her rather bad drawing. Her eyes were drawn to the teacher as she finished up her preparation for the next assignment of the day and slumped into her chair. Ashley quickly began putting together what she remembered about dealing with the Matrons after a day of work, all sympathy and quiet gratitude, and did her own preparation to ensure favor was gained with the second most important adult of the year._

 _Her concentration was broken by Emily looking visibly upset about the state of the classroom, "How can you be okay with this?"_

 _Ashley gave her a weird look, "Because they do what they want, and I do what I want. They've got nearly a decade to prepare for a combat role, let alone have anyone rely on them," And the thought process was a simple one, '_ The World will steal their joy from them eventually, why should I start the process early?'

 _Emily shot her a look, like she had expected her to side with her, "They aren't taking it seriously."_

" _No," Ashley agreed with a nod as she stood and made to move towards the teacher with her smile ratcheted up to eleven, "No they aren't. I just don't hold it against them. Besides, you can only control yourself, so how about we take it seriously and show them all up?"_

 _Emily mulled over the proposition, before she returned Ashley's smile with her own vicious grin, "I think I could manage that."_

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

I stood in the middle of what felt like a large cavern, watching as the dots made they're way towards my position. The chittering of Large bugs as they rubbed their mandibles together filled my ears, and I tasked Fenrir with scrounging about for anything I could use to see in the dark. I began to square myself as My Aura pounded to the surface of my skin, but when it broke my skin it brought no light, the earthy metal substance seemingly unable to produce light outside of itself beyond a few inches.

The only thing that seemed to catch the light was the bone white armor and the red eyes of the Massive Scorpion Grimm, Deathstalkers I believe, that were mere feet from me. They were unmoving and silent as they sat there, not particularly looking in my direction nor doing anything to react to my presence. I could make out at least twenty pairs of eyes reflecting the low light of my aura, but I stopped myself from reacting immediately to their presence just barely for a very simple reason.

My Minimap hadn't labeled any of them red.

I narrowed my eyes as I turned in place and flared **[Detect Bloodlust]** to be sure, and to my disbelief they gave off no blood lust that I could detect. I placed the thought into the back of my mind as a notification from Fenrir popped up and had me nearly tripping over one of the overgrown bugs in my fright.

* * *

 **[They're sleeping, Boss. They won't wake up unless you make some unholy racket.]**

* * *

If the mangy mutt had been within range I would've slapped him, but as it stood all I could do was twitch in anger and whisper to myself, "If they're asleep, why can I see their _eyes_?" I flapped my right hand about towards them.

* * *

 **[Grimm don't have eyelids. They don't need them, no fluids to replace or any reason to close their eyes. Hence, no eyelids. Also, the only thing that comes up for "Night Vision" or "Light Source" require extremely high, for you at least, Int and Wis scores. We're talking high** _ **tens**_ **here. You're gonna have to take this one blind.]**

* * *

"The hell I will…" I muttered as I closed the Message as I cautiously stepped around a pile of three Deathstalkers laying on top of each other and made my way to the edge of the room to begin looking for a way out. I placed a hand on the wall and then focused on exactly what I needed to happen.

The pool of energy that I knew as Stamina flowed from the middle of my chest, primarily around the lungs and heart, leaving tingling trails of excited energy in its wake as it made its way into my head. It began to pool around my eyes and before my eyes the World began to become clearer as lines became sharper in the darkness and my pupils dilated and began taking in more light. It made it a tad easier to navigate, but I had to suppress a growl as I realized I simply didn't have enough light to make anything out beyond a few feet away. Repeating the process of drawing up my Aura like I had my Stamina, and focused it around my eyes as well.

The more concentrated the Aura became, the easier it became to see. The unfortunate part of the process was that with my level of control over my Aura, I couldn't bunch it up properly and it continuously was trying to run away on me. But after a few minutes I had managed to create a rudimentary set of night vision goggles by slapping a pair of flashlights on my eyes and becoming more sensitive to light. The drain on my Aura was noticeable, but my Resilience was high enough to regen it at basically the same rate, and the Drain on my Stamina was barely felt.

As I stared around the Room, now able to see at least thirty feet into the room that was littered with about twenty fifteen foot long Deathstalkers ranging from levels 25 to 30, in the pale and dull grey of my Aura with the harsher lines of the room differentiating the varying levels of darkness now the only thing I could see in the room as they drew a picture of the room. A notification popped, and it was mildly jarring to see it in the same light blue that it had always been when everything I could see was Grey.

It would be a hassle if I got hit in the eye with the skill on, as it would undoubtedly explode the organ as a consequence of my shitty control, but the sight would be a necessary tool in a cave like this.

* * *

 **Skill Created; [Night Vision; Half-Grimm], Level 1!**

 _ **Ingenuity and necessity often go hand in hand.**_

 **-Ability to see in the dark added to the HUD.**

 **Range = 27 + 3*(Lvl) = 30 Ft.**

 **Clarity = (Wis*.01) + (.025*Lvl) = 7.5% Clarity.**

 **Costs 150 Ap and 15 Stm per second.**

* * *

 **[I guess I'll stop looking for ways to make fire, then. They were mostly Int and Agi based, anyway. But seriously, could you have made a more expensive skill if you had tried?]**

* * *

I snorted as I exited out of the notifications, and continued to pump Aura and Stamina into the Skill and observed the Room. Despite the lack of things trying to munch on my entrails, I noticed the sole standing occupants of the room; a pair of Deathstalkers, these ones standing about three feet taller and five feet longer in the tail, that were level 36 each. I wasn't really intimidated solely by the numbers above their heads, but there was a healthy caution that came with the sight. Their posture and distinction made me question exactly where I was, and what would warrant what seemed to be sentries guarding the door.

* * *

 **[A spawning room, where Grimm rest after they come into existence. It's not the first I've seen, my own was in a swamp in the south-eastern quarter of Atlas in fact, and they're pretty distinct. The spawning pool is probably around here as well. None of these Deathstalkers have passed these walls since they were spawned, possibly been asleep most of the time. No need for food, water, or air. Simply wallowing in this cave of Magic and getting stronger as they age, simply waiting for their final fight and their eventual return to the Cycle.]**

* * *

"Wait," I whispered to myself as I moved slowly around the room, "The dungeons exist outside of me being here?" I didn't want to think that the world revolved around me, but that was the vibe I had been getting from them thus far. I hadn't exactly heard about anyone else running into them before.

* * *

 **[They Follow the Grimm, actually. The Dungeons you've encountered so far did indeed spring into existence because of you and me, save the first which was there for the Beowolf clan that had taken over the Food Gazelle. You actually encountered me in** _ **my**_ **Dungeon, believe it or not. They exist as a manifestation of a Grimm's influence on reality, and is the source of their ability to defy causality and biology. A colliding of dimensions if you will. And most people can't exactly sense dimensional doors, so it isn't something that comes up that often.]**

* * *

"Uh… Sure," I muttered as I made my way to the guards, and applied one last layer of **[Osteogenesis: Hardening]** on my bones. I understood that Fenrir understood what he was talking about, and that was all that I needed to know. I wasn't exactly made for any science beyond the usable kinds, and Talk about dimensional doors and shite was going right over my head. "I can leave though, right?"

* * *

 **[House Rules, Boss. Ask the Locals.]**

* * *

The eyes of the standing Deathstalkers followed me as I moved, unlike the other slumbering inhabitants of the room, but they made no move to stop me as I moved towards them and the exit that they were standing next to. I made it within fifteen feet of the opening in the wall before they moved before they moved, slowly and deliberately as they watched me and moved on their many legs until they were taking up the entire space in front of the exit, staring at me as their mandibles chittered. "Stupid question, Fenrir. Do they speak, like, at all?"

* * *

 **[Not like you "lower lifeforms" do. Grimm do operate on a communication system, which is just pheromone-like substances being sent out to be interpreted by surrounding Grimm. Humans don't have the Noses for it, Boss. I think I can use yours and translate roughly what they are,** _ **very roughly**_ **, so just turn on Subtitles and I'll have the direct route for you. And they understand basic Common, probably what language the Older brother used when he Created them or something. No real answer for it, but it is useful for you here.]**

* * *

"I distinctly remember a lower lifeform beating your ass to pulp," I said to _no one in particular_ under my breath. I shot a glance at my Mini-map to make sure the Grimm were still peaceful, which they were, and quickly pulled up the Options and enabled Subtitles. Immediately words, almost gibberish in the lack of structure to the thoughts, began scrolling across the fuzzy grey of their forms in bright white letters.

" **No Leave,** " was the first real message I got from the translations as the Deathstalkers continued to make noises at me.

I looked at them and turned my head as I waited for a clear reason why, and when one came, I responded, "Why can't I leave?"

Immediately they responded, " **We only Leave for Fight. No smell fight, no Leave.** " The sounds they made were final in their tone, so I looked around the room at the other Grimm. I squinted my eyes at the forms, and I could feel the minute shift in clarity as **[Night Vision]** leveled up. I stomped on the Sand beneath my feet, feeling exactly how hard the ground of the place was as I continued to speak casually, hoping against hope to get out of this without a brawl. I was on a schedule after all.

"We? I ain't a grimm," I shot back as a few other Grimm began to wake up all around me at the commotion I was making, though none of them were yet hostile.

My response was a firm, " **You Grimm. No Fight, No leave.** " The irritation came bubbling to the surface, not at the fact they kept calling me a Grimm but at how annoying it was gonna be to deal with them talking like this.

Outside of my irritation it seemed that I was backed into a corner, so I shrugged as the chorus of Chitin behind me erupted into chatterings too numerous to keep track of, "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get," and I blared **[Project Bloodlust]** , and much like I thought it would it didn't have the usual effect of staggering the Grimm. Instead they seemed to rally under the chittering chant of " **FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.** " Like I was back in the Juvenile Detention Center.

Either way a smile pulled itself over my face as the Deathstalkers, all twenty-five or so, rushed me looking for a good death. I responded by activating **[Panic!]** and roaring into the crowd of now grey masks to drive them to an even further frenzy as I dived in with an ear-splitting bellow that rang off of the cavern walls.

* * *

 **Quest Received; [A Vicious Cycle]!**

 _ **They have made their choice and have called for a battle, Stand now and make yours!**_

 **-Exit the Cave of the Nundu!**

 **Rewards; 1800 exp and [?] Weapon.**

 **Failure; Death or Imprisonment.**

* * *

If it was a good fight, a good **death they wanted, I was more than happy to oblige.**

* * *

Alert blue eyes watched as the other students milled around the New Age house and acquainted themselves with the space. Everything was monochrome and shiny, and Luca was determined to touch as few things as possible. It honestly felt like they were dirtying the place up simply by existing in it, and Luca could feel the tidiness of the place just by looking at the place, and unlike usual the insight had very little to do with his Semblance.

He turned towards the Small alcove that housed the kitchen and spied Shebul beginning his nightly ritual of brewing Coffee pots to fill the fridge with his holy liquid, and Luca could see the Purple Fog that made up most of his Aura pulsing and moving in his joy. One of the Many tendrils that were attached to the more solid part of his Aura concentrated around his head wrap itself around the arm holding the cup that he was drinking, and Shebul smiled through the bags under his eyes as he brought the cup up to his lips.

Luca heard the voice in his head intone distinctly what Shebul was feeling and a brief glimpse into what he was thinking, and he broke away from staring at his teammate once he had gathered that the man was happy. He spied the Ethereal pink ghostly form of Cosma's Aura as she passed by, and the voice of his semblance informed him that she was distracting herself from thinking about Austin and her sister. Behind her following at a slower and calmer pace was Roman and his bright orange aura in the shape of a canister that was set on his back, gloves and a full helmet that continuously pulsed at different rates depending on his emotional state.

Luca didn't ponder the forms that the auras took anymore, years of seeing them had diluted their potency of effect on his psyche.

There was the issue of making it hard to look directly at some people, for example his partner's Aura was a literal tornado of Yellow that masked her form. The only reason he could stand to be in the same room as her was the fact that Aura was see-through, which meant he could ignore it and focus on her face.

"Roman, Cosma, wait up," came a voice from up the stairs, and Luca winced as Ashley came into view. Her aura was still flared up from the fiasco with her partner, and the flames clung to her skin as she moved past, and Luca tried not to react as the temperature in the room spiked at least five degrees. A wave of information came with her, and his semblance parsed through it just as quickly as it always had. He was left with the reverberating tones of his Semblance laying out what its best guess at the future was.

Luca huffed a sigh as she passed before standing up and making his own way towards the small room that he had been given. It was time to follow Emily's example and get as much sleep as possible.

He had a feeling that he would be needing it.

* * *

I met the surging stinger with my fist, the concussion produced by my **[Thundering Blow]** covering the sounds of scraping Chitin on sand before the sound was bolstered by the two Limbs meeting. The pincers came in under the blow as I knocked it upwards, And I caught the Left on my Chain and kicked the right one away from me. I reared my right fist back and pumped Stamina into **[Thundering Blow]** before pounding my fist into the elbow of the left Pincer.

The armor held together for a second underneath the onslaught before it cracked and my fist tore through the black substance under the exoskeleton like tissue paper. It screeched, but I launched myself out from under it as it thrashed about and began smashing everything around it. It slid on the sand until my hand shot out and latched onto another Deathstalker's leg as I passed, the momentum of my body easily tearing the limb off of its body. I slammed my feet into the sand to slow my movement and ended flipping into the air as I decelerated too quickly. My Night vision showed the fuzzy picture of the Deathstalker I had messed up going berserk and the other Deathstalkers, and I could hear the Stingers and pincers rebounding off of the thing's armor.

I turned with the force of a heavy blow and rammed the stolen piece of carapace into the gap in my assailant's armor with my right hand before following up with an empowered left straight to punch through the armor. Once the gap was big enough I slammed My fists into the inside of the giant bug, and the much softer inside of the Grimm bubbled and crumbled under my fists. I was thrown forwards as a stinger impacted in between my shoulder blades to take off a good two-thousand Hp, but I ignored the pain and unfurled my chain as I slid on the sandy floor.

I planted my feet as best I could and turned into the swing of my weapon, satisfied with the reverberating slam that echoed off of my foe, before taking a step towards it and bringing the weapon back around. I spun and spun as I moved forwards, hitting not only the large Deathstalker I was locked onto in my fervor but also any of the small fry that were unfortunate enough to get caught up in the maelstrom of violence. Pincers and legs were torn from bodies as the hook latched onto gaps in their armor and snagged, blows were turned away from my form, and for a moment no Grimm approached. The large Deathstalker succumbed to the onslaught within a few seconds and I spun to a stop triumphantly.

Unfortunately, the maneuver left me more than a little dizzy, and the Grimm took advantage of it. A stinger slammed into my side with the force of a bullhead, throwing me into a gaggle of relatively small Deathstalkers to be smacked around while my orientation reordered itself as best it could. After I had lost a few thousand more health I caught the incoming pincer of the juvenile Deathstalker and planted my feet with a snarl. I took a step towards the two now moving into engage me again and brought the struggling body of my foe over my shoulder in a sloppy hip toss, aided by **[Thundering Blow; Grapple]** to smash the three little buggers into paste.

A low rumbling growl left me as I looked about the monochrome room in search of my next target, and noticed that the once overflowing room was quickly emptying as the Grimm evaporated into the ether, and I was genuinely confused at when I had taken out so many of them, before realizing that I simply couldn't tell either way with my improvised **[Night Vision]** blocking out most details. It was a possibility that in the twenty minutes I had been fighting I had been beating on dead bodies simply for getting in my way. Movement and Noise erupted from the direction of the Exit and I spied a fuzzy gray mass as it made its way towards me, and I had the presence of mind to actually seek out its nametag.

 **[Level 43 Major Deathstalker]**

 **[** _ **Malik Aleaqarab**_ **]**

 **[ _The_** _ **Old Stinger**_ **]**

" **WILL YOU SEND ME BACK TO THE CYCLE, YOUNGLING?** " read the subtitles as it clacked its massive body towards me on six legs that dug easily into the sand to propel it forward. The Thing was nearly double the size of the Guards, and its mere presence was enough to scare off any of the other Grimm left in the arena. It was probably an intimidating sight, a scorpion the size of a bullhead with a carapace able to take an ordinance strike and keep moving.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see shit and couldn't exactly bring myself to be intimidated, only pissy. "Why the fuck are all of you so intent on dying? **It's annoying** ," I yelled at it, not exactly expecting a response, but not entirely surprised to receive one either.

" **TOLD TO STAY IN CAVE UNTIL WE ARE SLAIN. YOU COME, YOU SLAY, WE LEAVE** ," for all the limits of our interactions, I could feel the absolute joy in the words as it shook in place, like a dog that could see food but was trying to follow an order, " **GROW UNTIL IT HURTS. HIT HEAD ON ROOF. NOW WE FIGHT, I RETURN TO SMALL AND WORLD OF FIGHT.** "

The words were on the edge of making actual human sense, but they were enough to distract me momentarily. I blinked before I threw up a hasty **[Block]** as the Pincer pounded against my arms and I rode the impact as I was thrown through the air to land against the wall. I poured stamina into **[Power Jump; Lunge]** and covered the distance in a short second to bring my own attack home with an almighty slam that sent the behemoth skidding backwards in the sand.

I landed in the sand and quickly threw myself forwards under its slow but powerful swipes and rolled under its bulk. I gathered a few feet of chain and wrapped it around my left fist before slamming my right palm into softer underbelly of the exoskeleton and pumped **[Shatter]** into the chitin-like material, digging my fingers in when it began to turn about in a circle to try and find me.

Immediately my Enemy ceased its panicked scrambling and dropped all of its mass directly onto me to smash me into the soft sand underneath. All of the air exploded out of my lungs as suddenly I was underneath a small mountain's worth of Grimm, but I called upon the feeling of my Aura to keep me calm even as my Hp began steadily dropping from being smothered.

* * *

 **Ability contested, base [Aura]!**

 **Austin; 85 Res.** _ **Malik Aleaqarab**_ **; 1 Res.**

 **[Shatter] Effect imposed at Normal Cost!**

* * *

A couldn't see them as I was dragged around, but I could hear and feel the miniscule cracks appearing under my palm before suddenly with a startling _crack_ the White armor popped and the shrapnel brought even lower in health, but a feral smile crawled over my smashed face even through the pain.

My fingers dug into the Black flesh and I tore my way into the Creature, ignoring the now renewed thrashing in favor of gripping onto whatever I could inside the body of my enemy and tearing it asunder.

I heard the beginnings of pounding as it began to try its best to get to me by piercing itself with its stinger. I clenched my teeth and my fist as I charged up a fully powered **[Thundering Blow]** , Adrenaline Rush and all, as a way to deal with this before it got out of hand. Or any further out of hand as it already was. My fist soared in the confines of the cavity I tore out for myself, and I could hear the whistling as the cone of air broke around my fist before it contacted the mass of flesh in front of me.

Friction superheated the air as it tried to escape from in between my fist and its target, which began to sublimate as my fist moved through it, before my punch ended and the rest of the force of the technique rocketed through the rest of the Giant Scorpion and the backlash and shockwave washed through me and began to rupture blood vessels and the bones of my arm. The worst of it was when my **[Night Vision]** Skill backfired and blew out most of my eyes in a small aura fueled explosion.

In a split second I was back to breathing the artificial air of the Dungeon cave as the flesh and armor exploded out in a shower of debris, leaving only the back half of the Monster standing before even that fell to the ground and began to dissolve. I staggered out of the black mush of a corpse and bent over at the waste to spit out the blood that had welled up in my mouth and wait for my eyes to rebuild themselves. It took all of a minute of focused **[Second Wind]** to get everything back up to working order, where I activated **[Night Vision]** again immediately.

There was no time like the present to practice an extremely useful skill, after all.

All of my sensory skills and organs confirmed that I had cleared out the room, so I shrugged at the mess of a room that I was leaving behind and moved out of the Doorway to the long corridor that seemed to make up most of the Dungeon. If I were a betting man, which I hadn't had a real chance to figure out as there was a distinct lack of casinos at the Academy, I'd say that it was the main Canyon I had fallen into with a top added on. I stopped outside of the Room that I had left behind and used the active effect of **[Instinct]** to scope out the entire place for some sign of movement.

The scurrying of those Deathstalkers that had run away from my fight was ignored in favor of the much more subtle sound of a breeze being passed through a tight opening. I turned towards the northern end of the Canyon and Launched myself up and over the Cookie cutter Chambers that all looked a lot like the Chamber I had just left until I got to a much larger Stone Cylinder, this one much more obviously Man-made in it's construction. I landed on the roof of another chamber to observe it from a different angle than on foot.

It was a pillar of smooth stone built into the wall of the Canyon that went from the bottom of the depths to the very top of the roof, with the only blemish being the large Boulder that was positioned in front of the Doorway. I looked around the place to see if there was anything else of significance, and when I found nothing I shrugged and launched myself from my vantage point.

I landed in front of the Monolith and took a moment to confirm that this was indeed where the sound was coming from, before I pressed my shoulder into the Boulder and pushed. Predictably, it didn't budge. Strong I may be, but strong enough to just shove tonnes of stone with barely any effort I was not. Instead I took a step back and Pumped stamina into **[Thundering Blow]** and Ap into aural shielding around my left fist before slamming the attack home.

The move activated **[Rend]** and managed to crack the boulder almost in two, and from their I was able to chip at it with my knife or just smack it with enough force to dislodge enough rock to get through. As I squeezed through the doorway into the Pillar, I quickly noted that I could have a good career in demolitions if I needed a fallback. When I fell into the Chamber and stood to dust off my clothes, I realized that SDC and Atlesian Demolition Teams were the ones that used the massive Warsuits, which meant I'd be one step closer to getting my Mech Suit.

Wasn't _that_ bad of a gig.

I was knocked from my musings as the sand beneath my feet began to vibrate as a low rumble filled the Chamber and a tingle that began in my left arm moved to my spine to make my skin prickle in goosebumps for a moment before it settled down. I looked around the circular room and saw no exits or enemies, but I spied some stairs that led upwards, and that was the only feature of the room. I looked upwards and spied a few platforms that the Stairs led to on the outside of the Circular room, with indentions in place of Rooms. Had I not been on the clock I probably would've searched through every single space and chamber of the dungeon for something cool, but as it was I simply crouched and pumped Stamina into my legs.

I launched off of the ground in a whipping blast of wind that sent the Sand spraying in every direction but up, and I quickly soared upwards by about a hundred feet where My hand caught the edge of a platform to pull myself up onto the Stone cutout of what might have been someone's home millennia ago before repeating the jumps to get to the top of the pillar, the rhythmic rumbling getting louder and stronger the closer to the top I got.

* * *

 **[Warning: Powerful Enemy Ahead!]**

* * *

I landed on the final platform of the Dungeon and located the source of the noise, and was thoroughly unsurprised to find _yet another sleeping Grimm_ , though I was surprised by its nametag.

 **[Level 157 Alpha Leo]**

 **[** _ **The Nundu**_ **]**

 **[** _ **Destroyer of Ma'Mylona**_ **]**

The great beast looked to be feline or canine in nature and about 40 feet from the base of its tail to its snout, with white stripes and spots splattered up and down its hide at random intervals like some abstract art exhibit. On its back was the single piece of bone white Armor on the Grimm besides its mask and it covered the things shoulders and acted as a tether for the large bulbous sac attached all the way around the things neck that inflated and deflated with each unnecessary breath the thing took like a monstrous set of Bellows. The mask covered the top of its head from the bridge of its snout until it ended in a set of spike plates that met up with the piece of Armor on its back and shoulders. It was built powerfully and lethally gracefully, with long limbs designed to cover ground quickly and to hunt as best it was able.

Once again I found myself unable to be intimidated by the thing as it slumbered laying upside down on its back with its massive tongue, that was just as large as I was by itself, hung out of its mouth. I pressed my thumb and pointer finger into the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes and waited to be proven right, and after a moment the rumbling returned and I was impressed by the sheer amount of noise that this thing could make even in its sleep.

The tingling from my left arm returned in full force and I looked down to make sure it was alright, but to my blurry focus it looked about as normal as anything else I could see. I looked past the massive slumbering Grimm and could make out the top of another structure, and this one was also obviously manmade from the smooth texture and rectangular shape. My eyes stayed on the thing that could probably tear me apart with ease and they narrowed as I stared at the name. Then it clicked and I pulled up my **[Quest]** tab to make sure.

Sure enough I scrolled down and found what I was looking for.

* * *

 **Quest Received; Monsters of Old:**

 _ **Prove that you are the Ultimate Monster, Fight for the Throne.**_

 **-Search for and Deal with** _ **Leviathan.**_

 **-Search for and Deal with** _ **Moon-Eater.**_

 **-Deal with** _ **The Nundu.**_

 **-Search for and Deal with** _ **Zu.**_

 **Rewards; [?], and +20 Free points per Objective completed.**

* * *

Well, I had found one of four, and it was almost eight times my level and the size of the dormitory, so this looked to be something that I would have to deal with at a later time. My reasoning was that it was an exponential curve with levels and Health, so even if it barely improved in Con it was still gaining a massive Health pool just for existing at such a high level. It had a modifier of 1570 times whatever its Con was, meaning if I was looking at the minimum of one Con per level it still had at least five times my health pool.

So, definitely a no go.

I skirted the beasty and only moved when it snored so that it masked my sounds, and kept a hand on the wall as I moved. The closer I got the more the Structure that it was laying down in front of became clearer, and had it been covered in foliage it would've been the spitting image of the Monolith in the Forest. I skirted around the edge of the room and found myself at a Door in the wall of the pillar that seemed to lead to a set of ascending stairs that led nowhere quickly, but I turned back to the Monolith as the tingling began to turn into the same energy that had been at the other monolith.

I frowned at the structure as I moved towards it and found once again the massive double doors set into its massive stone frame. I ran a hand down my face before I placed my hands on the door and waited, and I found my hands unable to move as the smell of ozone overcame my nose. Even through the grey of my vision the ethereal blue was visible as it sparked to life and flowed into symbols that spun around the monolith. I squinted as once again it was a set of eight symbols that were repeated over and over again as they bled together to make a set of Common symbols for me to read.

 **MILLEADH**

Once they had all come together the words slowly but surely snaked its way to my left arm once more, and I grunted in pain as the blue symbols left a trail of burnt skin in their path as they snaked up my hand and onto the Chain where it rested on my arm. With one final flashing pulse of blue that scorched the entirety of my arm under my jacket, the process was done and I was released from the Monolith to fall on my ass and curse about the sting.

I heard the sound of a distant door opening behind me as I stood, and the Notification of the quest popped in front of my eyes.

* * *

 **Quest Completed; [A Vicious Cycle]!**

 _ **They have made their choice and have called for a battle, Stand now and make yours!**_

 **-Exit the Cave of The Nundu!**

 **Bonus Objectives; Don't wake** _ **The Nundu!**_

 **Rewards; 1800 exp and [?] Weapon.**

 **Failure; Death or Imprisonment.**

 **Bonus Rewards; + 10 Free points**

* * *

 **Level Up + 1**

* * *

I just shook my head and made my way towards the stairs, but when I got to the first step looked back at the slumbering Grimm, which I could still hear and feel as it snored away. I sighed and shook my head to clear it of wishful thinking and dreams of glory, "I'll be back." There was no ominous rumbling, just snoring on that front, or flashes of magical light to symbolize some eldritch pact being struck, but I knew that I'd follow through. Someday I'd come back and deal with the Monster that terrorized the Vacuoan Sands long ago, but today was not that day.

I couldn't even stop myself from being pulled out of a bullhead for fuck's sake.

With my piece said I turned around and began the ascent out of the Dungeon and back into the real world while taking the steps two at a time. I _was_ on a schedule after all.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 22: 1475/2200 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 45738/45738 HP Regen: 985 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1819/1819, Stm Regen: 74 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 7920/7920, Ap Regen: 198 Ap/Sec**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (128) 135**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 43**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (166) 173**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 8**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 89**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 920**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 27780**

 **Pistol Atk: 291**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 289 Damage.**

 **Mag; 18 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate an eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

* * *

 _Alright, there's the chapter._

 _To The Qrow; Thanks for the point out, I went back and made it more obvious what I was going for so that should be that dealt with. On the point of Classes, I went out of my way to limit each class some way, and most of the first tier classes that have multiple stat growths have major downsides, for instance the Renown Rewards being stripped on Protector. Those include extra Free Points on Level up and Quest Completion, better equipment from people you save and a load of other stuff that Austin never got or wanted to experience._

 _To the rest of the Readers, I wanted to point out that I'm trying to make a point about Gamer Fics with this story, for example in a previous Author's Note I mentioned that Gamer's tend to reach existential answers or personal breakthroughs alongside their "In Game" Level up or skill gains or Stat gains and such. This isn't what I would consider Bad writing or storytelling, as it puts into the reader that feeling of progress and growth, but its not what I see the Game system as._

 _Which is why there is a pretty big distinction between violent chapters and relatively peaceful chapters, one where he progresses as a Warrior and the other where he progresses as a person. The two worlds obviously collide and help each other out, but they are obviously two separate spheres that he inhabits. And he can be great at one while being shite at the other, as exemplified by this character._

 _Alright, that's my piece said. If you like it, leave a follow or favorite, those are nice, but more importantly if you have an issue with the story then leave a review or send me a message with your issue. I'll try to get back to you somehow, whether in the next Author's note or by DM._

 _Jericho Out._


	24. Level 2: Part 5

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _The wind whipped through the branches of the trees surrounding the clearing, and the clanking of Plate Metal sounded each time one of the men shifted about nervously. They watched nervously, with their arms and armor at the ready, as their Queen finished her Ritual, resolutely determined to stand between whatever heard the summons and the Rest of the Royal entourage. The four young Princesses standing tall and strong, with the oldest holding the young babe that was the Prince in her arms._

 _The Queen stood from her position kneeling over her dead husband's body, still wrapped up tight in his funeral shroud. She took two steps back and replaced the Chalk she had been using to draw on the recently burnt grass before she knelt once more and placed her hands at the edge of the circle. Immediately the intricate runes began to glow, and the Royal guard shifted in unease at the display of magic, even the company Thaumaturges showing awe at the masterful display._

 _They could feel as the very air around them began to still in its flow before turning around to start flowing around the clearing like a cyclone had sprung into being in the forest. The Chill of Ice came next, passing by in the Autumn afternoon like a ghost had run their hand down their collective spine. The Smell of ozone came hit them to their cores, but no blast of lightning followed, but the very smell put them on edge. They were caught unaware as a hot and muggy wave of wind blasted by and followed the rest of the elements as they passed, encircling the queen and her circle as they glowed and her blonde hair whipped around her head._

" _ **Oh Brothers, heed this Queen's call,**_ " _came the amplified voice of their monarch as they watched the elements bend to her will, "_ _ **I require an audience.**_ " _The world seemed to crack and shatter in the middle of the Clearing as the Elements stopped in their tracks, bringing the world crashing to a halt. As though it were on a sheet of glass the World seemed to be but an image that was being torn asunder as cracks spread upon its face, before pieces of the image began to fall out and impact the ground to turn into a purple-black goo that bubbled in the Circle around the body of the King, but spread no further than the edge of the lines of the chalk. Where the world should have been there was only the unfathomably dark that seemed to absorb light and the very world itself._

 _A hand shot out of the Black and latched onto reality as if it were solid and pulled itself from the Ether into being, producing an arm that proceeded to enlarge the wound in reality until a Black clawed foot erupted out of the void in their sight, and another until a gargantuan winged humanoid form made entirely from darkness stood in front of them._

 _Or so they assumed, as it was literally impossible to see. They had to infer from the portion of their vision that they were lacking what it was shaped like._

" _So you came," stated the imperious woman in front of her entourage of her loyal men-at-arms, looking uncowed by the being in front of her. She stood tall in her royal purple robes, her arms crossed in front of her stubbornly with eyes red and filled with grief._

 _A low rumble came from all around them, a vibration that passed through the very core of their being and the world around them before it entered audible levels, "_ _ **You didn't exactly give me a choice.**_ " _The Guards were unfazed that the void had been bent to their lady's Will, but the fact that it could speak was staggering._

" _I want my husband back," The queen stated in a tone that brokered no argument._

 _The living void turned to look at the corpse at its feet before it spoke again, "_ _ **Not in my control. You called the wrong Brother. Try again.**_ "

 _She shook her head, this time a tear escaped her left eye, "No. That's not what's going to happen. I've got one of you, I've got the both of you. Call him yourself." The ambient magic in the clearing, which had already been going haywire, spiked in intensity once more. The light of the day grew to a brightness that blinded them, but just as soon as it had come it was gone, leaving only a ball of Light the size of one of their helmets floating in the air._

"Brother, How did you let this happen to you? We can see across all space and the past," _The much quieter and human voice whispered into all of their ears, all without the fanfare that the younger brother had come with._

" _ **I was Bored and she seemed determined. Who was I to stop her?**_ " _The rumble shook the clearing, but now with much less energy in its voice, a calmer and more metallic tone overtaking the fire and brimstone of before._

"Of course you were," _It sounded as though it were shaking its head while it spoke, before the orb spoke to the clearing in general, "_ Now, I hear there is a dead man that you want to come back."

 _For a moment the clearing was silent as everyone came to terms with the gods now talking to them in the forest, bargaining for the king. The Queen was the first to recover and nodded her head, "Bring back my Husband or I'll banish your brother from reality," This wasn't the time for their charismatic Queen the Diplomat, nor the loving Queen that cared for her subjects._

 _This was the Time of the Warrior Queen that conquered for her kingdom._

 _There was silence before the orb spoke once more, "_ Oh, and you'd do it, wouldn't you? Such strength of Will. But I can see everything that has ever happened to you, and everything you have ever spoken. You have another wish, don't you?"

 _The oldest daughter must have known what it was referencing, for she called out to her mother, "No! You can't!" but her words fell on deaf ears, for the Queen nodded resolutely._

" _The ones who killed him did it because I wouldn't give them knowledge of Magic, as you well know. No more pain shall be caused by it, if I have a choice. Seal it all away, send Humanity and their wretches back to the dark ages to earn it once more."_

" _ **There will be a price, just as there will be for your husband,**_ " _The younger brother intoned from his prison, but the Queen only nodded in response to show that she was willing to pay any price._

"Very well. There are Six elements of magic that must be sealed, so we need six vessels," _The Queen lifted off of the ground, and she looked up shocked at the turn of events even as the stirring body of her husband floated up besides her. Four exclamations of shock caused havoc in the Guard as they realized the Princesses were floating towards the older brother as well, "_ And for your arrogance, your price shall be your family. You Will be stripped of your ability to create, only destroy. Your Line ends here today, but rejoice, for you have accomplished what you set out to do. Your husband breathes, and no enemy of yours shall ever bear magic against you and yours as a weapon."

" _W-Wait," She stammered as whatever invisible force that held her tightened and squeezed the air out of her, "You said you needed six, but you have seven," she pointed at her Son, still clutched in the hands of her eldest daughter._

"Ah yes, the young prince. He will be the seal, the thing that holds you six together and in line. Magic is our way to interact with the world without having to appear as you see us, and with it sealed we'll need a champion."

" _ **This is the fate that you've condemned your family to, Queen. Be proud of what you've done, for few would've been able to accomplish it,**_ " _The dark god spoke as the vibrant energy of the clearing died down and coalesced into motes of light that began to pour into the seven royal family members, who thrashed wildly in the God's invisible grasp._

* * *

I stared at Nan as she smiled happily at the campfire and sipped her Hot chocolate from its mug. I held my steaming mug in a white knuckled grip, basically ignored as I stared incredulously at my caretaker. I shifted on the Stump that I was using as a chair and lifted my right hand from my mug and pinched the bridge of my nose in consternation. "Nan, What in the ever loving **fuck**."

The old hag turned to me and manage to look affronted, "You asked me for a Fairy tale? It's a good story, talks about consequences and _sh_ -crap! Perfectly good lesson for a little _shite_ like yourself to learn!" She was waving her arms about in front of her, as though she were trying to ward off my criticism like an aggressive fly.

I simply shook my head and took a swig of my drink, "I just need to stop asking you to tell me Fairy Tales."

"Och, I see how it is," she said before she turned her head to the side and spit into the dark forest, "Just because it doesn't end in rainbows and sunshine it ain't a good story."

"No, Nan," I growled back at her, "It's just that it's _homework_ and I have to tell the story in front of Class tomorrow. I'm making the assumption that most people's stories won't have child sacrifices in them. I just wanted to avoid looking even more deranged than usual!"

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

It was seven in the morning in Sahili, with the Spring sun bearing down on the desert town already. The weather was calm for now, but being on the sand and this close to the Water made it unpredictable in the best of times. The sand just heated up and cooled down too quickly for any type of prediction to be reliable. A slight breeze drifted in through the single open window in the Large Room, carrying with it the smell of dust, rock, and metal that came with the sounds of machinery and material being processed. If he looked closely he thought that he could see the pair of Huntsmen on the trip with them making their rounds to inspect the Walls and the surrounding terrain.

Luca pulled himself from his thoughts as the last person they were waiting on to arrive did so, and General Spietzel clapped his hands to gather our attention. The SDC Officers immediately quieted down and sat in their chairs with ramrod straight backs as they came to attention. Luca shot his eyes over at Ashley, who made eye contact as she straightened, and shook his head as he did so as well.

"Thank you all for coming so promptly," The General opened the meeting with before tipping his head towards the older and slightly rotund gentleman who was breathing hard in his chair, "Save for Corporal Grant, Of course. He continues to ask me for an elevator, not realizing that the reason I refuse to put one in is because this is the only place he gets Cardio," The Board of officers relaxed a little at the joke, and Corporal Grant had the decency to look sheepish.

"There isn't much place for physical activity in the CCT, sir," he whined, as though he had stated it at least fifty times. Luca's Semblance dutifully informed him that the Corporal most likely had asthma, untreated, that interfered with his ability to perform aerobic exercises, and Luca filed the piece of information under _interesting-but-ultimately-useless_ in his head.

"Quite," Spietzel agreed amicably, "But now onto why we're here; The Security Debriefing. As you all know, Chief Ramsay had informed me of the lack of building materials to complete the wall due to the transport we lost in the South from Slurry. I reached out to the Headmaster of the Vacuoan Academy for Gifted Students and requested two teams for a protection detail, and they arrived yesterday."

A gruff looking man with broad shoulders and a dark blue uniform huffed from his seat and turned to look at the students sitting at the further end of the Table, "I still don't like the idea of handing the defense of the Breach to a group of school kids."

Ashley didn't wait for anyone to ask for her opinion on _that_ , "I killed my First Grimm when I was nine, and I haven't slowed down any since then. I assure you that we can keep the scary monsters from under your bed," Luca sighed as the confrontational and probing jab was shot at the man from blazing amber eyes and a relaxed posture that seemed to be daring the man to try her.

While the man was stunned into silence alongside the other officers, outside of Herrmann and the General who calmly watched while sipping on their coffee, Ashley turned to the General and began her inquisition. "I read through all of the documentation that was sent to the Academy and it was lacking a vital piece of information for a protection detail this large. I saw around fifty bulkheads atop the walls that would easily let a handful of men defend against a horde of Grimm. I saw Flak Cannons alongside them, ready to be used, and I hit the Terminals to check that you did indeed have Emergency bunkers and armories peppered throughout the Town. But you were lacking one very important thing," She paused for effect, and Luca noticed even without help from his Semblance the pale colour rising in the faces of most of the Officers as they stared horrified at her.

Luca quickly ran everything he had seen through his Semblance, and came up with a remarkably simple answer, "Where are all the Soldiers? So far I've only seen labourers and Officers, but no foot soldiers." Luca stared directly at the General, entirely unsurprised that his Semblance could give him no insight into the man as of yet, but feeling it unnecessary in this case. They needed the information, and there would be no real reason to lie about the numbers in this situation.

The General nodded slowly to himself as he placed his mug onto the Table, "The Soldiers have been deployed to various other outposts around the desert after a massive increase in Bandit attacks and what can only be described as Terrorism. We are down to only two Platoons of Soldiers in Sahili, One being my personal company and the other being Herrmann's. We have approximately one hundred and twenty soldiers to defend an area a quarter of the size of Atlas. If this disturbs you, you may always leave and we can fend for ourselves, I'd understand."

"Hence the request for Two teams," Ashley finished her thoughts with a smirk on her face and narrowed eyes, looking satisfied with the answer, "Does the Headmaster Know?" The General nodded easily, "Then My team will stay and help out. Though I don't understand why she kept it from us."

The General scratched the back of his massive neck, "She said something about surprising you."

One of the Officers had recovered from the turn of events and sat up in his chair with an affronted look on his gaunt and long face, with Graying hair slicked back and his uniform looking absurdly clean. "I remain unconvinced that these young upstarts will be able to perform to SDC standards, so I took the liberty of hiring outside help," He turned to the door and waved at the window, "They come Highly recommended from Vacuo Proper, with a track record of excellence."

Spietzel narrowed his eyes at the man, "Avi, what the hell do you think you're doing?" The door opened to allow three figures entrance.

The officer stood and moved to the three, "Doing what I can to ensure the Safety of this Town, General. I have permission from the Main Branch, nearly the CEO himself, if you really want to push back on this," He didn't wait for a response and immediately one of the three interlopers stepped forwards with a smile.

"My name is Adam Reedy, a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he beamed at the board, and Luca narrowed his eyes at how quickly a few people went from confused to smiling back, though Ashley didn't seem bothered by it. He was a young man with light brown hair and a thinner face, and though he was wearing a set of offwhite robes Luca could see how the fabric settled that he was a smaller person who had a hard time standing in one place. Luca's semblance spun together that he was simultaneously nervous as all hell and annoyed at having to be here talking to people.

Next to him stood another young man who seemed to be wearing a set of Light Plate armor under a heavy Leather Duster, and also stood easily over six and a half feet tall. He was smiling a goofy, yet charming smile that his Semblance was telling him was indeed a real smile. His semblance also told him that he was strapped to the nines with three guns, four knives and some number of grenades ready to pulled at anytime.

The last of the three watched the room as the other two made acquaintance with the Officers and made conversation, Blue eyes under sandy blonde hair cataloguing whatever he could in the same way that Luca himself did. He stood a few inches shorter than the walking armory, but still above six foot easily, though in a more slender and lithe way. On the surface, this one seemed to be the least deadly of the three, with no noticeable Aura, a lack of obvious and subtle weaponry, and an ability to go unnoticed.

But when their eyes met, it was like staring into the eyes of a hawk that was observing its prey. The voice of Luca's Semblance surprised him as it whispered lowly in his head, as though it were a piece of information that would usually be missed, ' _It's all just a game_.'

Luca waited for a follow up or explanation, but none came. He ran his Semblance again, but once more the same message came up for the third member. The hell was that supposed to mean?

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

It was a breath of fresh air being out of the Dungeon, but with it also came the below freezing temperatures of the Frozen Sands and the pelting of sand against my face. Barely a minute of reveling in escaping what should have been my tomb and I had to dismiss the notification of **[Exposure]** reaching level fifteen. Immediately I activated my **[Night Vision]** and whirled around to verify that I was indeed alone, before I tried to find out where I was.

The night sky was covered in clouds, and not a single shred of light actually pierced for me to find the moon and therefore a directional to navigate from. I pulled up my Minimap, but it was still in self-mapping mode. I narrowed my eyes at it, before scanning the horizon for landmarks, but with the cloud cover I couldn't see very far at all, nor could my improvised night Vision reach much further. I immediately recognized the issue that I was confronted with.

I didn't know where the fuck I was.

* * *

 **[Got it in one, Boss. No landmarks, no orientation, and no visibility, we are well and truly lost. I searched through the Maps we have of the general area, but none seem to have anything close to the Ravine you just crawled out of.]**

* * *

I paused for a moment to contemplate his words, "You tryna tell me that that massive canyon appeared in the last…" I thought back on the atlas, and it couldn't have been more than twenty-five years old.

* * *

 **[Well it isn't on the maps, so it wasn't in the Atlas. Either that or they somehow missed it, which is even more preposterous. It's the same size as the Mount.]**

* * *

"Doesn't matter," I stated calmly, "We're not gonna die, but we are lost. I'm gonna start moving in a direction until we find something that is on the maps, and we'll make our way from there," there was a grunt of confirmation as I began to run, **[Instinct]** already alerting me to the presence of Grimm lurking in the night and dissuading me from going full force off the bat. As evidenced by the _Nundu_ , not everything was within punching distance of my level and stats so I might as well start being a tiny bit subtle when I could afford it.

I set out at a run, not even noticing the Stamina drain as I picked up the pace. For the first forty-five minutes it was just me in my slowly expanding world of grey night vision, before small outcroppings of rock began to jut out of the ground. The only reason I found that out was because I manage to trip on **every single one of the damn things** in my way. On one of my falls, filled with profanity and rage much like the last seven, I ended up in a depression.

I stood and uselessly tried to get the sand out of my ears as I surveyed the area and finding it to be like a trench that had been carved into the sands without a single rock on the inside of the groove. I stomped my foot on the sand and was surprised to find hard packed sand on top of something even harder.

It seemed that I had found a road.

I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, deciding that following it made more sense than running in a straight line through the desert. At the very least the road would be easier to run on than the sand, so off I went into the night, now no longer stumbling over **goddamned rocks** but still uncertain of where I was. I ignored the suggestion from Fenrir to turn on the background music in the options menu, and continued my trudge into the night.

* * *

After a few hours of running, gaining me two levels in the skill, I finally came upon the traces of civilization that I was looking for. Hell, with the range of my **[Night Vision]** skill it would've snuck up on me had I not been bored as hell and blaring **[Instinct]** for any type of distraction in the night that was **not** Fenrir trying to play _I Spy_.

As it turns out, there isn't a lot to spy when my entire sight is Grey and blurry.

Either way I ran into the small town and turned off my **[Night Vision]** , the process of which left my eyes tingling and my vision swimming, to find the only source of light in the town at this hour. It was the Building clearly labeled "BAR AND BEDS" in big neon letters, easily the largest building in town as well. I made my way into the establishment, stepping around two gentlemen who were in the process of knocking each other's lights out with a light slap to stop an elbow from hitting me in the kidney, and pushed in the door to find a rather loud bar scene greeting my eyes.

To be fair to the place, it was mostly a group of about seven guys all around level twelve Brigands of all things having a merry old time at a table in the back of the bar, with a few calmer patrons sitting around the place with drinks and frowns as their only companions. There was a Serving girl serving drinks, and seemed to be avoiding the louder table on purpose, and when I looked back at the table I could swear that they all had the same last name, but my swimming vision kind of limited me on that front.

Wasting no time I made my way to the bar and found a rather pretty but obviously tired Redhead manning the place, and she managed a perfect customer service smile for me, "What can I do for you?" I tilted my head to the side a smidgen as I felt more than heard the anxiety in her form, and she shifted her weight towards the crowd of hooligans in the back.

"I got lost," I stated honestly as I scratched the back of my neck in mild embarrassment, finding no reason to mirror her unease, "Could ya tell me where I am right now?" I gave her my best innocent smile, the one that I basically never had an excuse to smile.

She squinted her eyes for the briefest of seconds, "Ya sure you ain't lookin' for anyone?"

I snorted and sat down heavily in the barstool, "Whoever can answer my question."

"Well in that case," She began with a much more natural smile on her face as she relaxed into the shelves of liquor she was leaning on, "This place is affectionately named Outpost Theta. Don't suppose that rings any bells?" I raised an eyebrow at her questioningly and she and the man sitting at my left both huffed a laugh at my nonplussed reaction, "Thought not. The place has only been around for a few years and exists almost solely as a Depot for the SDC Transports that are too fragile to be transported by air. I'll have Marie go fetch a Map for you," She waved at the Serving Girl to call her over, but her path brought her by the rowdy table.

I could sense what was going to happen before any of them actually moved, having spent too much time in bars as a child taught me the type to watch out for, and as the Brigand closest to the girl, for she was not a day over eighteen if that, raised his hand in the air with a hungry smile on his face I couldn't help myself. I grabbed the mug of the stranger to my left and hurled with the force of howitzer, activating **[Power Throw]** to get the point across. Simultaneously, I blared **[Project Bloodlust]** on the group, stopping their merrymaking in its tracks as all movement ground to a halt and their was a collective swallowing of fear, but it was enough hesitation for my makeshift projectile to hit its mark.

The thick glass held strong even as the Aura of the Man broke underneath the Shot, sending him spilling to the ground alongside the contents of the Flagon, dazed or unconscious I couldn't tell. Every fiber of my being that was filled with irritation at my situation, the night I had running in the sand, **those goddamn rocks** , came out in a low rumbling growl that shook the shot glasses on their shelf. The notification for the level up in **[Intimidation]** told me that it was working, so I followed it up with my most menacing voice I could, which wasn't hard when the growl had left me as hoarse as Nan after a bender.

" **Behave yourselves,** " I growled, as the men at the table all stared at me in fear and a little bit of awe, " **Or** _ **Get the Fuck Out.**_ " Immediately the highest level one, and by far the most sober began scrambling to get his drunk companions out of the Building, even impressively managing to throw his downed friend over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. I waited until they were out before nodding and turning back to the Barmaid with the same smile as before, "Sorry about that," I spoke sheepishly, "Now, about those maps."

The Lady blinked at me before hesitantly moving towards the back room with the Serving girl, who I assumed was her Daughter. I turned to the man sitting to my left and held out my hand, "Sorry about your drink, but it was for a good cause. I'll buy you another one when she gets back."

The man was wearing a thick black jacket and blue jeans, with his coal black eyes hiding in the lowlight of the Bar while his unkempt black hair was windswept about his head. The man looked at me with a curious look before taking my hand and pumping it once in a shake, "Fair enough. How'd you get lost?"

"I fell out of a Bullhead," I answered immediately, chuckling when the man began to hack out a cough, "Yeah, it was pretty rough."

"By the Brothers," He muttered as he regained his composure, "Picking a fight the moment you walk into a place and falling out of the sky in the same night?"

I shrugged and rubbed at my still tingling eyes, "Eh, some people need a little reminder to be civil."

He laughed at that, "I must agree. Me and my men deal with customers like those all the time, and sometimes the only thing that keeps them in line is a bigger gun."

"Huntsman?" I asked nonchalantly as I tracked the positions of the people in the building with my hearing. A process made much easier by the clearing out of the Ruffians.

He shook his head as he looked around the bar, and smiled when he saw a man lying face down snoring on the bar. Without hesitation he reached over and snatched the still full Flagon in front of the slumbering drunk and took a long pull from it, "Mercenary. We deal mostly in Defense, keeping the smaller towns safe for a price. Pretty well known, too. You say my name anywhere around the sands and I guarantee you'll find someone who's heard of me," He raised the hand without a drink in it in front of him and waved it across, as though he could see a banner raised over the Bar itself, "Abbad Saqr, defender of the Weak!" He punctuated the end of the statement with a draw from his drink.

"Ever stay long enough to teach the weak how to fight for themselves?" I questioned, more out of politeness than anything. The man just seemed like a happy drunk that was having an ego trip, and I was bored enough to play along.

He finished his pilfered drink and shook his head slowly, "I don't do it for the Civvies. The moment they can fight is the moment they don't need me and mine, so no. I try to avoid that as much as possible. I have been paid to do it before, though. They immediately set upon each other like hungry wolves just like before, but now they were armed and dangerous. Saw one town literally marching Faunus into the streets under the orders of the Guard's Captain to be gunned down with guns I taught them to handle. So no, no Training if I can avoid it," He looked unfazed by his own story, but the way his fingers tightened around the handle of the flagon told me enough.

"Some people suck, some people abuse power, and some people are vicious animals willing to do anything to keep what they have," I shrugged uselessly, having reached my limit of philosophy, "But Some are awesome. I'm willing to take that chance and If I was better, I'd teach all that I could. I'd rather people stay alive," I countered easily.

He raised his empty mug in a toast, "I'd rather they pay me to keep them alive," with a sarcastic smile on his face, "At least then I know who holds the gun and who I'm saving."

"Fair enough," I responded as the Barmaid, whose Nametag I now could focus enough on to read as Caitlyn, returned with her daughter and the Maps. She spread them out on the Bar and pointed to a penciled in Dot on the seemingly ancient piece of Paper.

"That's where we are," She spoke simply before returning to her duties as Bartender, "Feel free to pour over it for however long you need," she allowed before she was walking to the tables to check up on patrons.

"Which ways north?" I questioned as I took her up on her offer and began absorbing the knowledge of the map while Fenrir began to match the patterns to our maps.

My new companion looked up before he pointed to the door, "The Sun set directly that away so that means that north is that away," he pointed to the right of the door, and I nodded my head in agreement.

* * *

 **[Got it.]**

* * *

Immediately the Mini-map was filled with information on the terrain, and I stood from my chair with a growl, "Thanks for the Map, Ma'am, and thanks for the directions, Man."

My newfound companion looked up blearily, "You're leaving already? It's like three in the morning."

"Yeah, I took a wrong turn when I got lost and **ran the exact opposite direction** of where I'm supposed to be going," I slammed the heel of my hand into my forehead in irritation, dully noting the lack of the flesh-on-flesh _slap_ and the replacement of metal-on-metal _gong_ , "I'm gonna be so late," I groaned as I stepped out of the Door and immediately took off at a run, down the same road I had taken in to town.

And like that I was back in the sands, my world a ball of gray being pestered by the sounds of a snoring Grimm. If had a little more in Agility I'd be fine activating the **[Travel Trance]** mechanic I unlocked months ago, but I'd never make it in time if I did that.

So run through the Night I did, following the Accurate Maps that the Barmaid had provided to my destination. My quest line was driving me along the roads like a sane person would, and because I didn't want to get the attention of every Grimm in a hundred miles of my position I could only grimace and keep running. I was sick and tired of only moving at ten miles per hour and began to try and find ways to pick up speed without making noise.

That immediately crossed Aura off of my viable solutions list, leaving me with the much more manageable Stamina to work with. I searched through my body and found the source of my Aura and the tiny drain that was caused by Running, only two stamina per second to use. I immediately began trying to shove as much Stamina as I could into the Skill as I could to bolster the effects, but it was like trying to shoot a fire hose through a pinhole. Slowly but surely I managed to force more into the Skill, until it was eating up fifteen Stamina, but I could feel the burning of Lactic Acid in my Legs, which I hadn't felt in almost half a year.

I was startled by the Two notifications that popped up in front of me, but I kept running.

* * *

 **A Skill has reached Max Level! Running can be enhanced to Tier 2!**

 **-Running; (Tier 1.2) Skill maintains current bonus and advances at the same rate as a Tier 1 Skill.**

 **-Sprinting; (Tier 2) Double the Bonus per level up of Skill, but reset of progress.**

 **-?**

 **-** _ **Unlocked due to [Half-Grimm] Status**_ **; Trample; (Tier 2) Reset bonus of Running, maintain same Agility based Bonus, but add a Stack of the [Trample] Buff per minute spent using the Skill, adding 1 Mile per Hour to your Max Speed. Number of stacks possible to hold is (Str/10).**

 **-?**

 **-?**

 **-?**

* * *

 **Skill learned; [Overclocked], Level 1!**

 _ **I'm givin' her all she's got, captain!**_

 **-Expend 100 Hp and Three times a physical Skills Stm Cost to Overpower it and increase its effect by 10%.**

* * *

I blinked at the Skill enhancement page and wondered why I hadn't gotten any of them recently, before another notification popped from Fenrir.

* * *

 **[Your first Combat Skill Enhancement is Free, but the rest require you to complete a special quest to enhance, which become available at your second tier Class, so Level 25. Non-Combat Skills don't have quests and can be enhanced at any time.]**

* * *

I closed that notification and the rather useful Skill I had managed to bag, and looked at the Enhancement page closer, before Immediately selecting **[Trample]** , simply for the Str determined Speed. The others would work fine for Agility based characters, but that wasn't something I'd ever be. Immediately I lost the ability to move as fast I was running and ended up rolling on the Road as my momentum overtook me. I growled as I stood back up and activated **[Trample]** , groaning aloud at the light jog I took off at, now that my max Running speed was reset to around 4 mph, and waited. A minute later I picked up in speed, and then the next, and then the next until I was matching my old speed. The next minute I had overtook my previous speed, and I was only halfway there.

I checked my Skills for confirmation of my max Speed, and smiled when I saw the new Skill in its place.

* * *

 **-Trample! Level 1, [Human] Skill;**

 _ **GETS OUT MAH WAY!**_

 **Move at 150% of your base movement speed, and for every minute spent using the Skill, add a Stack of Trample that adds 1 Mph to max speed.**

 **Number of stacks determined by (Str/10). Current Stacks = 13.5.**

 **Costs 5 Stm/sec.**

 **Maximum running Speed: (3.9 mph base/ 17.1 mph max stacks).**

* * *

I smiled and activated **[Overclocked]** on the Skill and bumped to just under twenty miles per hour. The feral smile on my face was just the start to the elation I felt, but more importantly I no longer had to _skip_ to get around quickly.

Felt like I should've been wearing a dress with that shite.

And like that I set my now blistering pace towards Sahili, my Feral Smile set in place on my face.

* * *

"What do you mean, _We're Stuck!_ " yelled the Harried man. He had been dealing with Drunk _**Branwens**_ all night and into the morning, and even if they were family that didn't mean that they were any fun to be sober near. And now, to make matters worse, after having been scared off by that man in the bar, He had been caught up in a sandstorm and lost sight of the road. As his luck would have it, he ended up running off the road and into the softer sand. He had sent the second most sober, also the only other man still awake, with a flashlight to see how bad it was.

" _I mean, we're fucked!_ " Came the eloquent response of his companion, and his head dipped down to begin honking the horn in frustration. Raven never had to deal with this shit. " _What in the Fuck is that?!_ " came the yell from outside that brought his head back up. He blinked at the road, before seeing something in his rearview mirror; A pair of rapidly approaching headlights.

"Oh thank the gods," he muttered under his breath, before he noticed that the lights were too close together to be headlights, and bobbing back and forth rapidly. He moved closer to his rearview and squinted into it, trying to divine the true image by sheer proximity. As he stared and began to feel a bit of dread, he saw them blink. "O-oh," He spoke shakily, "They're eyes."

And then the warning bells in his tired mind began to sound and full on panic set in, and then the full body that they were attached to appeared through the sand, and it was the man that had run them off from the bar, grinning like a demon freed from hell as he full on sprinted towards their position. He could feel the urge to piss himself creeping up on him, but he squashed it down with the will of a true Branwen and began to prepare himself to die.

Wispy gray energy emanated from his eyes and floated to the side of his head, cloaking the Grimm Red eyes that had sent them scurrying from the Bar with their tails between their legs. He had been sober enough to remember the Stories that Raven told about The Mount, about the Monster of the Mount, to recognize those eyes. Enough to fear them at least. And now that monster was bearing down on them, not running gracefully like a Huntsman should, but with a ferocious gait and demonic smile like he was the Younger Brother himself come to deliver them to the otherside.

It was all he could to scream bloody murder when the man stopped running and began walking towards the Van they were in. He began fumbling for the keys as his cousin got in the car looking just as frightened, and his shaking hands made it impossible for him to start the car before he reached them. A massive fist rose in the air and he began praying to Gods he hadn't believed in for years.

It fell and he closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.

Instead it lightly rapped on the window, and he came face to face with the concerned face of his new worst Fear, and through the window he heard the muffled voice come through " _You guys need any help?_ "

The shock of the situation ran through his body and he immediately joined his Drunk ass relatives in the peace of Slumber.

* * *

I could only stare as the men Passed out in their Alcohol fueled stupor, the whole van reeked of the stuff, and shake my head.

But the question on my mind wasn't why the drunks had been driving, it was much more confusing than that.

Why had I earned a level in **[Intimidation]** for offering to help them?

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **(6 Months and fourteen days in)**

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 22: 1475/2200 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 45738/45738 HP Regen: 985 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1819/1819, Stm Regen: 74 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 7920/7920, Ap Regen: 198 Ap/Sec**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (128) 135**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 43**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (166) 173**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 8**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 89**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 920**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 27780**

 **Pistol Atk: 291**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 289 Damage.**

 **Mag; 18 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** _ **you**_ **don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate an eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

* * *

 _Alright, responding to few guest accounts._

 _To N; Make an Account so I can send you DM's, I need people to bounce ideas off of and you seem to get the story easily and catch little details. Other than that, yes the Nundu is based off of the Harry Potter Monster that is classified as the most dangerous monster in the world._

 _To Twitch; Those particular Deathstalkers were stuck in a Dungeon with nothing to do for literal centuries, so they were feeling a little pent up. They also knew that death was the only way out of the Dungeon, as they'd go back to their Spawning Pools (An idea based off of the Spawn caps of Games world wide, with only a set number of Grimm existing at any one time)._

 _To Guest; Your request for More points in Agility has been answered with new skills, as I have a particular scene that requires him to have below ten Agility. And low Wisdom will be addressed relatively soon._

 _And that's about the scope of it, no long winded Note from me today._

 _Jericho Out._


	25. Level 2: Part 6

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _It was everything that she could do to keep her hands from shaking as she stared at the rapidly cooling corpses of her Strike Team. She looked at her bloody hands as the flashes of memories, entire lifetimes worth of them, flowed into her head and filled her with their power. She could feel her arm setting itself back into place with a jarring snap in the night. Instincts and pulls of Semblances not her own at the lining of her brain, with only decades of experience with her semblance keeping her afloat in her thoughts. She looked over at the shattered remnants of her weapon laying next to her temporary Partner for the mission looking just as shattered as he lay there with a satisfied smile on his face._

 _The same look the Shell Shocked huntsmen had when she took the memories that kept them up at night; Finally at peace._

 _Utterly terrifying._

 _She set her old, old face in a determined look as she heard the bushes rustling behind her, and she stood with a snarl as her bones continued to knit themselves back together with the memories of her fallen comrades. She stumbled to the Youngest of the three and took her Spear from her hands, the same hands that had dragged her towards her husband with her dying breathes. Even devoid of Memory she still knew where she needed to crawl to die with family._

 _Bright summer days filled with laughter appeared in her mind with an explosion of noise and colour that nearly sent her sprawling in their vigor, but she regained control before anything more than a stumble could break her form. Past the cooling bodies on the frozen ground with steam rising from them she could see that which had caused their deaths and bared her teeth in challenge. Old she may have been, but she was a warrior through and through with hundreds of lifetime's worth of experience in her head, some given and some taken. But they had fueled her half-way into her second century well enough, and given her enough options to deal with anything that came her way._

 _A deep rumbling growl rolled across the ice as her opponent walked towards her. The sound cracking the frost that was left on the Forest ground in an ominous way and making her still healing bones itch in anticipation that made her rethink her statement. Enough to deal with_ almost _anything that came her way. It was flanked by the younger and more Human shaped Lupine forms that were nowhere near a threat to her on their own, and they stayed near the treeline well away from the fight that was going to occur._

 _But she stood her ground in front of her quarry, the polearm feeling just as natural in her hands as her own sword had moments before, though hopefully this one lasted more than a single strike against the beast in front of her. A beast straight out of legend, that hadn't been sighted in nearly five centuries since her Grandfather had lost his life to it on a hunt. And here she stood in front of it, alone and battered with only one option left._

 _The words of her father rang in her head as she stared down_ _ **He-Who-Hunts-The-Swamps**_ _and considered breaking the only actual rule that she had been given when she started training to be a huntress so long ago, "_ _ **Never steal the memories of a Grimm. Your Soul can't handle it, you'll break down and die no matter how much you take.**_ " _It was all she could do to send one final curse to her long deceased Father before the beast was upon her, that same rumbling Growl tearing apart the air as it lunged towards her with deadly grace a millennia in the making._

 _Thankfully she had a comparable amount of knowledge to at least make it within its guard._

 _She slipped under its swing and laid her hand upon the Massive Beowolf's chest and Activated her semblance at full force, trying to drain the sucker dry as best she could. One second of contact before the monster batted her away with a lumbering strike, but it was enough to send her reeling mentally as a hundred years worth of information sped through her mind at light-speed, but when she forced her way to her knees to spit out the blood, now spotted with black in the red against the Snow, she could see that the overgrown_ _ **mutt**_ _was a few feet shorter and looking a little less sure of itself but no less fierce._

 _She smiled the smile of the Damned and stood again, before hurling the Spear like a javelin and sprinting towards the Beast. Her Aura carried her farther than her quickly deteriorating body could on the Snowy ground of the Clearing. She caught the spear a step from the Grimm to slam it into its leg to pin it to the ground It howled, but she gave no thought to it and grabbed the void-black fur and_ pulled _._

 _Memories flashed, and skin ruptured as the energy of the Grimm tried to find its place in her soul and spilled back onto the ground in thick black ichor flowing beside her blood. She watched the Forest around them from the days of small Fir trees to the massive natural fortress that now stood tall in their place. She watched from the eyes of a sleeping monster that only moved to attack the humans that happened to find their way to his, yes_ his _, resting place and could feel the cold_ _ **fury and white hot protectiveness as the only thoughts in his head was branded into hers.**_

 _ **How**_ **dare** _**you attack my pack**_ _._

 _She fell to the ground underneath the Grimm as the ichor poured from every opening of her body and she knew that she could take no more of the foreign thoughts. The foreign_ _ **Soul**_ _. Soulless her ass, she knew what she felt. She stared up at the Grimm, its sharp intelligence darting out from behind its eyes as it prowled around her, now visibly wary of her form, even though she knew she was spent. No more people to draw from to power through, to overcome._

 _As the Monster limped towards her, now looking like little more than a minor Beowolf, and raised a paw above her head like the blade of the guillotine, she knew that she was Doomed._

 _A Rustling in the bushes brought her eyes to the right as well as the Monster's, only to find a Boy, no more than six in his years flying out of the brush to land on the back of the watching Beowolfs. He had a thick club of wood and he beat savagely on the Grimm as its brother tried to move in to help with the interloper, but a swift swing of the Branch knocked it ass over tea kettle into the bushes before he returned to beating on the Grimm._

 _The monster she had happened upon roared its outrage and thundered towards his prey, leaving her to watch horrified, unable even to speak or scream or yell for the child to run away. Her eyes widened in horror as new bone plates surfaced and grew upon the hide of Fenrir like rocks appearing with low tide, and croaked painfully as the tree branch snapped under his vicious remonstrations on the now broken body of a juvenile Beowolf. The young man, for it was no boy that stood and fought the Grimm, turned his eyes upon his true opponent she saw the same vibrant Red of the Grimm glowing in the night._

 _Her breath was stolen as he narrowed his eyes at the Plates growing on the Monster and stared at his arms, which she could now see hung limp and broken in their places at his sides. He let loose an ear piercing shriek of what could only be described as_ _ **rage and pain**_ _before the Bones snapped back into place and he was shuffling towards a monster that had just killed Trained huntsmen. She could only hope that she had weakened it enough for it to matter._

 _Jaws snapped shut on his right arm and she could see from her position dying on the floor that the teeth hit bone, but the Kid paid it no heed and instead swung his left arm over head before dropping it on the monster's head. What should've been useless flailing turned into savage violence as the limb turned from a deep brown to a charcoal Gray that reflected the light of the moon and hit with a sickening crunch as the mask of the Grimm broke and then shattered under the second blow._

 _Her eyes began to give out and when she could next see she was greeted with the child savagely beat on the now dissolving Grimm, with not an inch of himself not covered in blood, mud, or the ichor of Grimm._

 _A small lucid part of her brain reminded her that she probably didn't look very different._

 _Once the body was gone the Child turned towards her and stumbled her way, with his right leg obviously mangled and threatening to give out under his weight, mumbling something under his breath before he hit the ground and rolled over onto less than a foot from her. He too had the look of Peace that her partner had worn as he stared into the Sky above the forest, and her soul or whatever shards were left of it called out against the cruelty of the child dying after such a grand accomplishment. But she could barely breathe, let alone perform medical treatment on the kid._

 _And from the absolutely shattered state of his limbs, she knew that even if she could it might not be enough._

" _ **Take them**_ _," whispered the voice of her semblance as she coughed up more liquid, "_ _ **You could just reach out and… take them. You won't live without them**_ _," The statements were full of certainty, and she could literally feel her body breaking down and rebelling against the power of the Grimm she ingested. But she still grimaced at the thought of taking anyone's thoughts,_ _ **memories**_ _, without a good reason._

 _But then her face was set in a frown as she realized that neither of them had a chance to survive if she didn't._

 _She tried in vain to move her arms and legs as Muscle refused to respond and flesh gave way to ichor. She realized she couldn't reach him without help._

 _She tried to call out but her voice gave out, suddenly dehydrated, but her Aura blazed to life and kept her together long enough to rasp out to him, "_ _ **Get up,**_ " _and the boy shuddered, his red eyes piercing through the dusk of the clearing, but without the anger and focus of a Grimm that let her ignore the instincts of hundreds of Huntsmen telling her to run or attack, and kept talking, "I need you to move over here and give me your hand. It's the only way you're getting out of here," The eyes wavered before his head rolled back to rest, and she growled as her body resisted her attempts to move it._

 _The thought of not repaying the kid for finishing what she started, just leaving him to die, fueled her and she was close enough to death to forsake pride, "Please, kid. I need your_ _**Help**_ _," On the last word, his eyes snapped open and found her face, maybe ten inches away and yet still so lost._

 _The eyes bored into her, with an intensity that surprised and scared her, before he pulled himself closer inch by agonizing inch with a determination that put her to shame. Here she was, in the same exact position as a child and unable to move, and yet a kid was tearing himself apart to help her. A hand slapped onto her's and her Semblance activated without her consent, greedily devouring everything this child knew, greedily and hungrily devouring knowledge and memory with reckless abandon._

 _She stilled in horror as the kid-_ _**Austin**_ _, her mind yelled as Memories flooded through her head- slumped over in a dead faint and_ _ **she couldn't stop**_ _. The information and memories flowed too quickly, and at such strength that she couldn't stop them. It was like trying to dam a river with her hands, trying to stop draining the memories from the kids head, and she had only felt such resistance from her Semblance a few times before; her Father on his deathbed sharing his wisdom with her and her Sister, a man a step away from Death for a crime he didn't commit, and her temporary team willing to give their beings to help her survive._

 _All times when the memories were given freely._

 _The boy had felt her pull on his memory and forcefully shoved the rest of himself into the Vacuum, trusting her with everything he was. Or just in too much pain to care._

 _Only after she had taken too much,_ _ **much too much**_ _, leaving the kid bone dry and without a single clear memory to his name, did she stop. She bawled as the energy her Semblance traded memory and experience for flooded in and refueled her limbs, giving her enough strength to survive, knowing that she had just broken the child._

 _So she did what she could, and gathered up the dirty and broken kid into her arms and stumbled out of the clearing towards the treeline._

 _Towards_ _ **Help**_ _._

 _And after catching glimpses of the memories she had just drained from the child she was certain in saying, the kid would've done the same for her._

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

I am forever thankful whenever a vehicle stopped rumbling and bouncing enough for me to stumble out of it, but it was especially bolstering when I had spent the last three hours being bounced around in the back of a van. The only people in the Vehicle that I could wake up had been frightened and easily scared, reacting as if they'd been shot at for the first ten minutes if I so much moved an inch in my "seat" on the floor of the Van, but I had never taken the time to learn how to drive.

Of the two I could wake, only one had stayed up to drive and I had told him in no uncertain terms that I was taking a ride with them. He had given me a shaky salute while I climbed in, but I was glad to see that the rules of the road that Nan had taught me so long ago still applied.

If you come across someone in trouble, you help 'em out and they'll help _you_ out with a ride.

 **[Jerry "Cherrystone" Branwen]**

 **[Level 12 Brigand]**

I only took note of the driver's Nametag because it had been so long since I had seen one without a Title. Even the drunkards had titles labeling them as useless layabouts or aggressive drunks, but Jerry was special in so far as the fact that he was _not_ special. But what he did have in spades seemed to be nerve, as even when he was flinching and ducking like I was going to knock his head through the windshield, the van never swerved, nor did he say anything to me outside of thanking me for pushing them out of the ditch. All he did was continue to repeat what sounded like a prayer under his breath endlessly, even when I told him I was giving him some privacy by basically meditating. All he did was nod and repeat his mantra even faster.

A Will of Iron on that one.

I spent my time with my eyes closed trying to figure out exactly how my Aura was abating the effects of **[Carsick]** , but it was three hours spent futilely flexing my Aura like a muscle and hoping for a different result. In the end I had realized that it had nothing to do with where the Aura was or how I was using it, it literally was just a side effect of my high Resilience and the **[Deadened]** perk. Looking at the now filled in Mini-map on my HUD I found a small town not even bothered to have been named on the maps, looking as little more than a pitstop on the road. I felt and heard the Van pull to a stop and quickly hopped out of the vehicle to survey my new surroundings and hopefully get a move on to Sahili.

What I found was a small town, half buried under a Sandstone Hill, consisting almost entirely of Cloth tents or Vans and trucks modified into small mobile homes. The tents were patched together in browns, reds, and oranges and they all seemed to have some sort of damage to them that hadn't yet been repaired. The Buildings that were more permanent looked to be carved out of the Hill, like sandstone carvings that approximated houses, with signs of unskilled construction in the lopsided doors and windows. But the biggest thing that I noticed was a Massive Crater in front of the Largest tent in Town, with the smell of burnt flesh and Sulfur still lingering in the air just barely traceable with **[Instinct]**.

All in all, I had a singular question; I turned to the Driver of the Van, who was currently in the process of removing his drunk cousins from the vehicle, and swept my hand back behind me in a grand gesture, "What in the fuck happened here, Jerry?"

The guy quickly glanced over in my direction with wide eyes, like he had expected to leave me without speaking to me again, "The Fang's been givin' us hell," he answered simply with a roll of his shoulders.

"The White Fang?" I asked incredulously. Last time _I_ had checked the Fang had been a peaceful Faunus advocacy group. Sure there had been reports of radicals, but I could never tell whether that was the truth or just the Atlesian Military making excuses to weed out dissent.

"Not exactly," He said as his Aura limply flared and he hoisted a cousin over his back and tried to move him into a comfortable position, "This is the craziest of the crazies. They all got angry that the White Fang wasn't makin' enough progress and split off to _take the fight to the Humans_. Been runnin' the sands ragged, snatchin' supplies and transports, shootin' up Towns that don't look the way they want 'em to, you name somethin' to make life worse and they're doing it," he grunted as he turned towards a large tent to carry his downed cousin away, "Buncha cunts."

I snorted at the extremely blunt response, thankful that outside of the School people weren't trying to wrap their statements in layers upon layers, before my attention was stolen away from my impromptu chauffeur by the sound of yelling and general misbehavior. Probably wouldn't have been that big a deal if it hadn't been **six in the goddamned morning** , but as it stood whatever was making the racket now had my full attention.

Never a good thing to have at six in the morning.

I walked around a nearby clump of Terracotta houses and found a long building without much in the way of doorways, but by the smells and noises making their way to me it had much in the way of Alcohol. And the one rule of life outside of the Capital cities that people seemed to follow was as follows; Bars are never closed and kegs are never empty for those with Lien.

But from the way that the troublemaker was having an issue keeping his pants up as he stumbled around and hollered at what I assumed was a Local, it seemed that he had drank more than his fill or he had lost his Wallet. " _Y-you don't know nothin'!_ " He yelled once he finally came to a rest and I saw the Local Woman flinch in response to the sudden outburst, " _I-_ _ **We're**_ _the only reason this Shithole is still standing!_ You should be worshipping us, you skank! And when I say I need a place to crash you make up a bed!" He stopped raving and the woman, who looked like winter had been a tad too tight on food, tried to placate him with soft hand gestures and words. But I was having none of that.

His clothes seemed to be a size too large and seeing as he wasn't a small man that either meant he had been obese or he wasn't wearing his own pants. Not the weirdest thing a drunk person had done or that I had even heard of. But when he looked down and pulled his makeshift cloth belt tight I stepped towards him, ignoring the pleading look of the woman trying to subtly motion me away from the drunkard, but I focused instead on his Nametag.

 **[Rolan Branwen]**

 **[Level 17 Bandit]**

 **[Barrel Chested]**

I looked back at the guy with a quizzical glance, wondering when my definition of looking strong had changed from looking like a construction worker to looking like _Hazel_ , before shrugging in acceptance. He stood an inch or two above me, but he also looked like he hadn't done cardio in years, with a layer of fat on his body that insulated his physique. I was almost touching him by the time he realized I was there, and he responded by swinging wildly at me and trying to stumble away from me. I caught his wrist and pulled while driving my forehead up into his nose, resulting in the sound of Shattering Aura and another yell from the man as he slumped with his face in his hands to stop the quickly flowing blood.

That was the thing about broken noses that made them so annoying; By the time it had stopped bleeding and you had gotten the tears out of your eyes, the thing had swollen to the size of a melon and you could barely see let alone think.

I turned to the woman with a dead look on my face, "Where's the boss?" intent on scoping out exactly _who_ was letting these wild dogs roam wild in the town. They weren't from around here, somewhere in forested Vale by the accents if I had to guess, and they weren't giving their hosts the proper respect necessary of guests. And if I had to Beat them into better behavior I would. The lady was giving me a look of pure dread and terror, and I had to assume she couldn't tell the difference between me and the drunk at this point, but I'd ignore that for now. She pointed a shaky finger towards a Large Tent on the other side of the Makeshift Tavern.

I nodded and Grabbed the groaning and cursing man by the foot and dragged him along the ground behind me as I made my way there. Along the way I passed by the Building and a few of the men outside jeered or whistled at me and the man I was dragging behind me as I passed, probably laughing their asses off at one of their own having their ass handed to them. I ignored them as well as I kept my eyes and ears open for other troublemakers, but I found none as I made my way towards the large Tent. I immediately noticed that this one was kept much cleaner and mended much less than the other Tents I had seen along the way. And there was the fact that it seemed to be made entirely from Animal Hides as opposed to the Fabrics of the others.

I spied two men sitting at the top of the stairs with weapons in their laps, dozing in place before one of them noticed me making my way towards them and hopped to attention, slapping his partner upside the head to get him moving as well. I made it to the bottom of a set of steps that were cracked and worn down by a long time in the sun and desert, and looked up the twenty foot tall staircase to the Guards at the top.

There was a brief moment of silence, that I assumed was them coming to terms with me just dragging one of their family members around, and when I turned around to check to make sure the man was still intact I found that I had attracted a crowd. Almost every Bandit that had been in the Tavern had grabbed a friend and showed up with a drink to watch whatever was about to happen. I shrugged and reached out with **[Instinct]** to map out the surrounding area as my eyes tried to capture the intent of the crowd, but all in all they seemed cheerful. I heard someone taking bets on outcomes and reasons already, like they were at a sporting event.

I frowned at the crowd, but didn't say anything to them as they seemed to be behaving themselves. An Odd calm but cheery mood pervaded the area, and the fact that no one had taken offense to my handling of the Hooligan was oddly Comforting. It told me that these were a people that respected violence, something I was well-versed in.

Still, two separate instances of bad behavior in the same night was enough for me to raise the issue with whoever was leading them. I heard the swishing of cloth from the top of the stairs as two people stepped out from within, one was an Elderly Lady that seemed to have curled in on herself with age and relied on the Staff in her hand to stay up right, and the other stood tall in Blood Red Armor that was stylized with Feathers and a Long Nodachi and its sheath on her hip, for it was obvious from the cut of the armor that it was a female, with a rather odd Helmet on her head. While it was obviously designed to look like a Grimm, I couldn't tell what the fuck it was going for.

Was I supposed to be scared? Was I supposed to approach it like a Grimm? Was I supposed to pat her on the head and congratulate her on her little project? I had no fucking clue, so my eyes shot to their Nametags instead.

 **[Lamia Thueban]**

 **[Level 47 Oracles]**

 **[** _ **Tight Lipped**_ **]**

The old lady was wearing standard Sands gear, with a white robe wrapped around her with only her face and her arm sticking out of the bundle of cloth. Her face was weathered and craggy, but I could see the evidence of a smile being present on her face if I squinted. Overall, she was an odd package for someone of her Level to come packed in. She stayed standing at the platform that stood at the top of the stairs while her companion slowly took her time to move down the stairs.

 **[?]**

 **[Level 51 Daimyo]**

 **[** _ **Try and Stop Me**_ **]**

Now, had I been anyone else I might've felt intimidated, maybe even true fear, but as it was I getting fed up with everything taking twice as long as it should. I cursed my inability to not meddle when I saw something I disliked, as once again it had gotten me sidetracked. I set my frown and resolved myself to see this through before I returned to my journey. I wasn't surprised when a notification popped upon my internal proclamation.

* * *

 **Quest Received; Disciplinary Action!**

 _ **Sometimes, people need to have their shit pushed in before a lesson sticks. Let's see if you can deliver.**_

 **-The best route is often the Direct one. Deal with the Leader, and save the Townsfolk some grief.**

 **Rewards; + 2 Free points and + 250 Exp.**

 **Failure; Grief for the Townsfolk and yourself.**

* * *

That was the thing about **Quests** , I had found out how they were generated; I make a decision, and Fenrir Weighs it against the world for rewards. If something is monotonous, or not something I feel is an accomplishment then the **[Game]** doesn't consider it worth a **Quest**.

I rolled my eyes as the Lady took the stairs and the crowd fell silent as she walked, as though they were waiting on her, before I adjusted my grip on the Drunk's Ankle and _Hurled_ him at her feet. Before he had even left the ground she was crouching to jump over him and she passed over him with a grace that I was _never_ going to obtain before landing lightly on the hard packed Sand of the unnamed Village. I snarled at her, and was glad to see that she could read the difference between irritation and a threat when she made no move further against me, "I ain't got all day, Lady. Your man there," I pointed at the sprawled body that was groaning on the stairs, "and another Group of 'em down at the Outpost were making some trouble. Keep 'em in line, or I will," I nodded towards the groaning man lightly as I kept my eyes on the much more dangerous woman, "And I ain't so gentle."

Her shoulders shook as she chuckled and her hand lightly rested on the hilt of her Sword and she spoke with a small muffling effect from the Mask, "Why should I be concerned about the actions of a few of my Family? Either the people their fucking with grow a backbone and tell 'em to fuck off, or they sleep in the bed they make. Simple as that," She shrugged once more to show that she was truly unconcerned with the issue, but I heard the crowd murmuring amongst themselves at the bizarre turn of events.

According to them, she relied on her sword more than her words.

"They anger people, they bring angry people down on you," I pointed out in a growl, "You never know when those who can't fight will run to those who can. And then you got a bigger problem on your back than just a few wimpy villagers."

She took a step forward, all while purposefully keeping her steps light on the sand but her hand never strayed from her weapon, "True, but I wouldn't be concerned with anything this Gods forsaken pile of Sand could throw at me. The only people who'd have to deal with them would be the idiots who had gotten the villagers up in a frenzy to begin with," She took a step to her right, and I mirrored the predatory movement to my left, "Let them lay in their beds as well. And if they got an issue with it, let them deal with it themselves."

I narrowed my eyes at her, "You don't intend to do anything about it," I stated clinically, followed by the laughs and jeers of the returning crowd, "You're going to let them run wild and make hell for a bunch of other people." I snorted when she only nodded and began tapping a rhythm into the hilt, but I should've expected nothing less with a Title like hers. I cracked my neck and sent my eyes skyward in exasperation, but it wasn't like I truly expected anything else from a Bandit Queen. I narrowed my eyes at her, "Why the fuck are you here if you don't plan to do anything?"

" _I_ am here to defend this Town and honor a favor that my Father owed to the Seer," She stated coolly, "Besides, the Fang had made the Winter Hell for these people, but they survived and kept on going. That is enough to earn my respect," and it finally clicked in my head as I stared at her body language was yelling at me.

Constantly shifting in place, fingers never still, and if I had to guess her eyes hadn't left mine the entire time we had spoken.

"You think I'm going to attack you," I said clearly and calmly, "But you aren't going to make the first move," I watched as she stilled in place, and smiled my vicious smile, "Is that a Little bit of Honor I see in you, Bandit Queen?"

"Honor is for the weak, and it leads to an early death," she responded with what could only be described as disgust, before she shook her head, "No, I only know caution. You are not the first person to approach me with an issue, though you are the first to speak for this long without attacking. I have no intent on being taken by surprise."

I raised an eyebrow at her as words and actions began to settle like dirt in a cup of water, drifting and falling into place with time, "The reason you protect them from the Fang is the same reason you refuse to tell your men to stop fucking with them," I spoke aloud, my own philosophy suddenly blaring into existence as I stared at the woman.

The crowd began yelling their support of the idea, and I heard enough to see the picture clearly, "They're big boys and girls, they can fend for themselves," and "If they can survive the Winter than they can survive some drunks," being the ones that stood out to me the clearest. I could see the quiet sense of calm in her actions now as she stilled in place and stood tall.

I gripped the bridge of my nose and thought it through, to follow the lead where I could before it eluded me again, "You're protecting them, but you and yours live out of tents and vans. Mobile. You guys are obviously Bandits of some stripe. That's more mentality than anything else, but there is probably someone out there that doesn't like you," I closed my eyes as a memory from so long ago of Burgess assaulted me, probably thanks to Fenrir, "The SDC is, or was at least, looking for a Branwen, and would settle for any of you," before I looked and met the Mask of the woman who was slowly walking her way towards me with a determined look, "You won't be here forever. You're trying to help the Villagers get stronger the only way you know how."

She dipped her head in acceptance, "Most people in the Family have little to no training, but we do have an innate ability to piss anyone off. I thought that if I couldn't train them, then the least I could do was help them find their fire," she shrugged as she got within swinging distance of me, "Maybe have some 'Drunks' move the equipment and leave them some weapons to fend for themselves after we're gone," She reached back and began to fiddle with the latch that held the thing on her head, "Though I must admit, I didn't think anyone who wasn't a Branwen would understand the thought process."

"That's because it's aggressive and direct," I intoned dryly, "And something I would definitely do, so there's that," some of the people in the crowd laughed and others acted like they were offended, but they all began to disperse when it became evident that there wouldn't be a fight. One lucky son-of-a-bitch raked in his winnings from betting on what was assuredly the longshot choice of "no violence". I squinted as a memory of the Mount came to me, as though Fenrir had managed to match the voice before I had, and she pulled off the Mask as though to just confirm it.

 **[Raven Branwen]**

"Aw, you don't look surprised to see me," She said coyly now that the situation allowed for a little less seriousness. I squinted at her, clearly able to see the Teenager from the Mount under the changes, but was surprised to find genuine mirth on her face. I guess she had found her humanity since we had last spoke, because I remembered a robotic seventeen year old that made wood look expressive. She must have aged well, for whatever that was worth. She was something like twenty-eight, but she still had a youthful face that now housed a small smirk. Her eyes were the same though, blood red and _just a little_ cruel.

"It was either you or your brother, and I don't think he'd pull off the Armored heels," I shrugged, surprised by the sudden anger that crept onto her face before it dissipated like a wave on the beach, "And to be fair, you don't seem too surprised to see me either, seeing as the last time you saw me was when a tunnel collapsed on us both."

"Eh, been expecting someone for about a week," She answered simply, "Didn't know it would be you, but somehow it didn't surprise me to see you show up," Before we could get much further into what obvious questions I knew she'd have, I heard The sharp _clack_ of Wood on stone and the noise drew both of our attentions to the old lady at the top of the Stairs. " _Jadda_?" Raven asked incredulous and made her way up the stairs, throwing me a wave to follow her in, but a few notifications popped before I could do so.

* * *

 **Quest Failed; Disciplinary Action!**

 _ **And sometimes, you must simply see it from their point of view.**_

 **-You thought it best to let the Tribe continue its work.**

 **Bonus Objectives; Understand the Tribe's Approach.**

 **Bonus Rewards; [Direct Approach] Trait and + 2 Free points.**

* * *

 **[Direct Approach];**

 _ **Hard heads Prevail!**_

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked: Idiot Savant!**

 _ **How'd you manage that?**_

 **Perform a Skill Check with less than 5% success rate successfully.**

 **Rewards; + 3 Free Points.**

* * *

I quickly closed the Notifications and hopped up the stairs three at a time, just in time to follow the Pair inside of the tent. Raven pushed the Cloth that hung in front of the Door and I saw that inside wasn't a house or anything, it was closer to a War Room with a Table in the middle with a Map spread across and pins placed all around the thing. They ignored it and Raven helped the Old lady into a Chair as she began coughing something fierce, and Raven immediately moved to grab a cup and a bottle of something that I assumed to be medicine before she opened it and nearly burnt my nose hairs off from ten feet away. When she moved over to the old Lady she drained the Cup herself and handed the Bottle to the old Hag.

I looked at the map and noticed one of the Pins placed on top of Sahili and pointed it out to Raven, "What's the Map about?"

"The movements of the Fang in the area, trying to keep a handle on their position as best we can," She responded as she made her way to the other side of the Table.

"What happened at Sahili?" I asked, honestly confused. The Docket hadn't mentioned any type of Terrorist attack on the site, and I was of the opinion that it was pertinent information.

She shook her head and frowned a little, "That's where they were headed last time we saw them," I froze in place as the information hit home, and I realized that I _needed to leave-_ "They move pretty slow, so maybe three days to get there? They don't have any Bullheads, and they seem to use Technology as little as possible, so they have just one long Caravan that goes around the Desert, with little raiding parties to attack Shipments or towns- _where are you going?_ " She asked when I hit the doorway.

" **Friends in Sahili,** " I bit out around the blockage of Rage in my throat, as I berated myself for _fucking off and wasting time_. I was entirely unsurprised when the Notification appeared before my eyes.

* * *

 **Quest Updated; Hop, Skip, and a Jump!**

 _ **No Longer a joke. Get moving!**_

 **-Make your way to Sahili before the Deserters!**

 **Rewards; +2500 exp, +10 Free points, and increased Relationship with Teams TESL and ACR(A).**

 **Failure; Decreased relationship with Teams TESL and ACR(A),Removal of [Team Player] Trait, and possibility of Death!**

* * *

"Wait a minute, Speedy, You still have a few days, and I need you sit tight for a second to listen to my friend here. She's the Mayor," Raven explained, before hesitating and looking back once more, "And she's got one hell of a Magic Trick."

I watched with wide eyes, disbelieving as I was catatonic with fury, terror, and Concern as the eighty pound woman that looked to be pushing a hundred chugged the rest of the bottle, before slowly placing the bottle onto the ground next to her chair. I waited for a moment, " _What-_ "

Raven held up a hand to stop me, and then the old hag **Exploded**. An explosion of Light erupted into existence around her form, not an Aura, but something far more primal and untouchable than that. Whatever it was it expanded until it was covering the Corner of her room in a thin Pure white blanket of energy that absolutely thrummed with energy, before it began crawling across the ground until it hit my right foot and stopped. I blinked at the turn of events before gritting my teeth against the tingling feeling the light brought with it even as it burned against my skin as though it were trying to char words into it. My Health steadily dropped even in the face of my Pretty impressive Regen, to the point where I began pouring Stamina into **[Second Wind]** to make up for it.

I stood strong in the face of this explosion of light, before just as suddenly as it started it ended, with the same coughs of an old lady piercing my ears. I sat there for a minute clenching and unclenching my fists as my fevered and panicked eyes darted around the room before landing on the smiling face of Raven, and I growled out " **What in the Hell was that?** " I may have been a pretty resilient guy, but I happened to dislike being exploded, no matter how mildly.

Her smile Dropped, "You didn't hear him?" she shot a look over at the center of the explosion, "What happened _Jadda_? I heard him just fine, and so has everyone else so far," She sounded genuinely confused, which was a sign in her favor.

The old Woman, _Jadda_ to Raven, appeared at the table and began to speak in an almost whisper quiet voice, "That's because the Message was about him, _Sagiri_. I was simply making sure it was him we were waiting for," I stared at the walking Explosion as she passed me and walked towards the door, "Now, I need to go lie down."

I waited all of three seconds before I rounded on Raven, _fuck the Level difference I was confused and still tingling I'd strangle The Nundu right now_ , and began shouting, " **What's her Semblance, the ability to distill alcohol into explosions?! And What in the everloving fuck was I supposed to hear in that shit?!** " and god dammit, I'd been dragged around by the Sands for three days straight and it was starting to get to me.

"She's an Oracle, She speaks the words of the Younger Brother when he needs to let someone know what's going on. She told my Dad and a few of the other Elders in the Tribe about a massive Typhoon that was going to wipe out the Tribe," She stated clearly and to the point, "He listened when no one else did and managed to keep most of the Tribe alive. He owed her because she speaks the truth, and she's _magic_. Now she's got a new message and it's about _you_."

"Right, Magic," I bit out through clenched teeth, "The gods ain't heard of postcards? They gotta have them wherever they fucked off to. Had to be an explosion, didn't it?" I dragged a hand down my fucking face, " _Fuck it._ Fuck Magic, fuck the old Lady, and Fuck whatever message the Gods wanted me to hear. **I got somewhere to be.** " I turned away from the stunned Raven and poured my now refilled Stamina into one Massive **[Power Jump]** aimed directly North. Towards _Sahili_. I felt the Sandstone under my feet turn to bits as I launched into the air, bringing irreparable damage to what was undeniably a historical site.

 **I didn't give a fuck if it turned to dust,** _**I have People to Protect.**_

 _ **And if one more thing gets in my way, between me and mine, I'm going to tear it apart.**_

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

" _The Main Speculation on the significance of the Beithir in Vacuoan Mythology is that it is the only monster that seems to be born from the world as opposed to born from human meddling or some imbalance in the Magic of the Sands. It is said to be only killable by the hands of Humans, and almost entirely outside of the reach of the Gods, hence why the need for the Loach._

 _It is the representation of the uncontrollable, the outliers, and the unknown._

 _And if you don't fear those, you aren't thinking hard enough."_

 _-Excerpt from_ _ **Mythologies of Remnant**_ _, by Marsha Mourie._

* * *

End of Chapter.

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 22: 1475/2200 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 46292/46292 HP Regen: 998 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1841/1841, Stm Regen: 75 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 8008/8008, Ap Regen: 200 Ap/Sec**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (130) 138**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 43**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (168) 175**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 8**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 90**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 932**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 28390**

 **Pistol Atk: 291**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 289 Damage.**

 **Mag; 18 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** _ **you**_ **don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha towards those that you have saved.**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate an eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Direct Approach];** _ **Hard heads Prevail!**_

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

* * *

 _I don't have a whole lot to say this chapter, other than to point out that I roll for quite a bit of the story decisions and the Charisma check was one of them, which he barely succeeded by the skin of his teeth. I am still tweaking the system of the Game a bit, all things that haven't been truly expanded upon in the prior chapters and such except for one thing that I didn't make extremely clear._

 _The Regens scale faster with the Stats than with Level, which means that someone with high Con or Res is going to be regening more than someone with half the Stat but twice the levels. So Austin can out heal most things that he has met, outside of Hazel, without any skill. So as long as he isn't torn apart in less than a second, he can walk off crazy stuff._

 _Traits can be removed at the discretion of the Game, if it feels you have no longer earned them. Skills provide better bonuses than Stats in almost every case except for Strength, which is a big determiner of Melee damage while Skills expand upon that._

 _Um, in terms of Story the whole "Fuck Magic, Fuck the Gods" Mentality is something that will continue to pop up, and continue to play a major role in the story later on down the line. Raven makes an appearance, but not as anything major here. Barely a quest giving NPC with the amount of dialogue I gave her. A big problem with her is that I honestly can't see a reason for her to be as horrible as the Show claims she is and her not to be dead, let alone a Maiden of all things. So I made her more human, as I've been trying to do with all the 2d characters that the show gives us basically nothing on (Cinder, Hazel, and to a lesser degree Raven for reference) outside of some dialogue and other characters opinions on them where you have to infer a personality onto them. I just can't see her as anything other than A mother caught between duty and Love._

 _Alright, that's my piece said._

 _Jericho Out._


	26. Level 2: Part 7

_Interlude A_

* * *

" _What am I even lookin' at?" I grumbled as I stared at the Table in front of me, that was covered in a plethora of components for some machine. Plastic in shapes I couldn't recognize, a few piles of fasteners, and lines of wires and a jar of powdered Yellow Dust. I leaned to my right and spied around the Cheap tablecloth that was draped over the Table and hung down further to find a few larger pieces of Plastic and Wood that looked to be larger housings for some contraption. I looked up when the sounds of creaking wheels and rattling metals pierced my confusion, and I saw my maintenance Mentor wheeling in a ToolBox to the room._

" _This Week's job," Keith explained for me as he zipped up the front of his Jumpsuit all the way to the neck, "We're fixing the Intercom in the Headmaster's Office."_

 _I squinted my eyes at him before I took in a big whiff, trying to place the smell that was managing to pierce the pervasive smell of oil and gas of the Workshop, and looked back at the man with a raised eyebrow, "Why does it smell like Coffee in here?" Nobody in the Workshop drank the stuff, they preferred Soda and the sneaky sip of liquor when the Manager wasn't around._

 _Keith barked a laugh, "The Headmaster Broke a Coffee pot on her desk, coated the Intercom in the stuff and got Glass all up in the receiver and speaker. The biggest mess I've seen her make yet," He shook his head as he limped over to a nearby table to rifle through a box as long as he was tall, "Which is saying something. She's almost as bad as you are." As he leaned further into it and packing peanuts began to pop and sprinkle out of the box I took a look at the label on the side of the box which read 'SIMPLE SPEAKERS.'_

 _Keith fell out of the box with a cry of joy, with his hands holding a speaker each. He slapped them onto the table with a proud smile around his cigarette, that had miraculously not set the box on fire, "Now, today I'm gonna be teachin' you something that might save your ass if,_ _ **when**_ _, you break something in the future."_

" _You have my attention, Sensei," I responded, more because I knew he'd get angry if I didn't say anything than any actual information to pass on. The man was ornery enough as it was, no reason to set him off for no reason._

 _At least not while we were on the clock._

" _Electronics are weird, sometimes," He started as he began moving his hands around the table, looking to me like a master chef about to put together a dish with all his proportioned ingredients. He began connecting wires to ports on the speakers, brandishing a soldering iron to the Yellow dust on one of them to adhere them together, "Can you tell the difference between what I just did?"_

 _I looked down at the Speakers with interest, cataloging the intricacies and wires that were just added. Then I stopped and pointed out the obvious that I could see, "You fucked up. You did one of them backwards." And it was true for as far as my untrained eyes could tell, the wires on the left went into ports while on the right they came out with their own Cable heads._

" _Basically, yes," He agreed before slapping the one on his left, "But they both still serve a purpose. This one is a normal ass speaker, input electricity, information, and a frequency and it'll make a racket, but this one," he laid his hand on the right one with a smirk, "Is a microphone."_

 _I stared at him for a moment before blinking at him, but he barrelled on despite my confusion._

" _What I meant when I said that electronics were weird is that if you have a structure with an input and an output, the only thing that makes them that way is the direction of the current, and if you know what you're doing, like I do, then you can reverse it. And doing that changes the function of the components. For example, it takes the speaker matrix, which takes electricity and produces sound if its hooked up right and takes in Sound to make electricity to send out, hence; Microphone. And their both a part of the same machine, same structure, different use."_

" _I mean, that's fuckin' cool I guess, but why are you tellin' me this?" I questioned at the man, as he often forgot to teach me anything at all and instead just left me to my own devices. That he went so far out of his way to impart this one was suspicious._

" _It's a metaphor or whatever," Keith mumbled irritatedly around his cigarette, "Sometimes it may feel like something only has one job, but if you turn things around on it, or maybe just look at it differently, it can do something else," I raised an eyebrow at him and he grew red in the cheeks as his irritation began to bleed through, "I'm talkin' about you, Dumbass. You talk about only bein' good at breakin' things, but if you just stop thinkin' like that one day you might do somethin' else!"_

 _I laughed at the man, and he threw his hands in the air, but I couldn't help myself. That the man was trying to cheer me up was telling. He may not be the best at making points or metaphors, but I understood what he was going for._

 _I stopped laughing as the Manager stuck his head in the door and Yelled viciously at Keith to get to work before telling me that I was being watched and to not touch anything important, and we went about our workday without much else of importance happening. But the message had gone through well enough._

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

The sounds of turning wheels and wind whistling by metal was all that pierced the inside of the Vehicle, and despite all measures that had been taken against the unevenness of the desert Roads the Faunus that stood or sat around the confines of the Hold were rocked back and forth as they traveled. Nothing drastic enough to even phase the group of Five, having spent years upon years hardening themselves to the perils that faced Faunus specifically. The blacked out windows of the transport let in little light, meaning that only those with night vision could even participate in the planning that was occuring in the darkened hold.

A large and bulky man leaned against the left wall of the Transport, his large mass and stature visible even under a dark grey Robe. The handle of a Sword stuck out over his shoulder, ready to be unsheathed at a moment's notice. On his exact opposite sat a young lady with dark blue, nearly black, hair that fell down to her shoulders with smudges of grease and soot on her face. She sat criss cross on the floor with a bunch of pieces sat in front of her as the only one in the hold that wasn't wearing her Robes over her few pieces of White Fang armor. She spent her time cleaning and maintaining the Assault rifle in her lap, uncaring for the robe that it was sitting on. In the very back of the carriage sat Bosco with his Arm and shoulder still in a wrap from the Injury he took a month and a half ago, but still looking just as irritated as he had upon waking up after surgery. He had an irritated and pained expression on his face as he continued to mark and plan on his laptop to the best of his ability. He expressed anger at his loss, but that was to be expected from any soldier injured in the field.

They were observed and watched by a robed figure that sat against the Front wall of the Carriage, with the only part of him visible being the Coal black eyes that seemed to absorb the light from the white robe around his figure, and he stared at a holographic projection on a pane of glass that stood secured in the middle of the space. The map that was scrawled across it was recent, maybe two months old, and showed the SDC Town of Sahili in all of its _glory_. He resisted the urge to spit to the side at the thought of those mongrels setting foot on his land, and barely managed. He had an image to maintain, after all.

"Sir," stated the only figure who wasn't sitting or leaning against a wall for support, managing to stand stably and without any visible difficulty in the shaking carriage of the Transport. He waited a moment, letting the scene play a moment longer than necessary, before nodding in recognition to the Woman. She had served him faithfully since the beginning, had been there beside him almost as long as Bosco had, and he trusted that she would give the briefing well enough. "As you all know, the plan is a two-pronged assault, with infantry acting as a cover for…"

He let his focus wander from the briefing, the thing was more of a courtesy for one of his more… _Impulsive_ Commanders of the New Fang as it stood, and let his aura gauge exactly where he stood on his semblance. As his senses stretched he could feel, and _smell_ , the loyalty that poured off of his commanders, how they'd die for him. How they thought he'd die for them.

His golden aura stretched further, his skill in manipulating the energy making it nearly imperceptable as it passed through people. It expanded past the Transport's metal walls and into the other five vehicles, confirming that they were all filled to the brim with loyal men and women willing to go to war with the largest paramilitary on Remnant just because he said so.

It was an… _exhilarating_ thought.

His eyes opened under the Hood of his robe and he watched those that would lead his Armies with him intently, before he smelled the influx of _fear_ through his semblance, before he felt a pittance of loyalties break from him. A drop in the bucket of his wealth of power, but disconcerting nonetheless. He waited a moment for some momentous chain reaction like what had happened in Slurry, but thankfully he lost no more.

He shrugged his shoulders as he felt a bit of the weight of his semblance shifting under his skin, but had to admit that he had seen it coming. The moment their larger fighting force had left the Towns they had conquered in the Sands, there were always a few brave souls that dared to take their Auras, _that he and his had given them_ , from his clutches through willpower alone. He thought he could stop it by making a few of the more unruly citizens of the town into examples, but while it had stopped them from breaking the chains quickly he could feel them all the same.

He looked up and around the room with a smile hidden under his robes, before deciding that it didn't matter how many broke free. They had taken everything and anybody that they needed to remove the SDC and their Moneygrubbing Human hands from _his_ sands, and with them the enslavement of his people. He had some of the best Faunus in the world under his command, and they were all willing to die for him. He was going to win.

And once he was done in Sahili he'd be back to bind them once more, and more powerful than ever. He couldn't help the dark chuckle that escaped him at the thought of someone trying to disobey him then.

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

I felt sorry for the group of Deserters that were walking towards me, I really did. It wouldn't have made much of a difference if they had put more effort into moving quietly, it wouldn't have made much of a difference if they had been taking their patrol more seriously. No, they had made the simple mistake of existing in reality between me and my goal when I was _**pissed**_.

The thoughts I had that were running on a track in my head were more about my lack of talent, lack of ability to do anything right, and even my inability to go the right direction, but an outlet for stress was what I needed more than anything. I could feel the energy demanding to be released boiling under my skin, setting my arms ablaze as my fists clenched so hard that I managed to pierce my **[Iron Skin]**. The rabid and feral part of me that I had fostered from a young age wanted to start wailing on anything that happened to _exist_ in my general vicinity, and they happened to fit the bill.

 **[Instinct]** had alerted me to their presence in the lull of sound upon reaching the zenith of one of my jump's, with the sound of shifting sand and wind whistling through the dying trees broken by the stomping of boots and the metal on metal sounds of weapons. I could hear the disdain for the town they were guarding as I flew through the air towards them, but through the dusk I had been unable to make out their forms. I instead honed in on their **Clumsy and annoying** footsteps in the sand as they stumbled and tripped towards their doom. I landed twenty feet behind them in an explosion of dark brown bark and sand, and for a moment they stared at me with wide eyes under their hoods and slack hands on their weapons. I took a moment to confirm that they were indeed the deserters that I had issues with and before they could recover I was on the closest one with a **[Lunge]**.

In a red haze filled blur I tore through the unfortunate souls.

My knee passed through the mist that used to be a man's head, and I was impressed by how quickly his compatriots reacted to his vaporization. A sword had been swung at my neck, and with a snarl and a pull of my right hand I had torn the limb from its host. The dark red of blood coated the sand and the Wood around us as we spun. A shotgun was pressed into my side with the bayonet snapping off of the barrel from the resistance of my **[Iron Skin]**. In a moment I had moved with my pull to turn quickly and pressed my palm against the barrel, with each pellet acting as a single instance of damage and being effectively nullified by my defense, before stepping towards my robed attacker and _slamming_ my palm into the barrel of the shotgun.

The force behind the blow sent the Butt of the gun into the woman's stomach, breaking her Aura in an instant. My snarl intensified as my left hand shot out and wrapped around her throat, and I stepped past her before launching her into the Petrified forest at mach two. Without her Aura to protect her, there would be no surviving that. If she were lucky she'd break her neck instead of bleeding out. The low rumbling in my chest worked its way loose from my throat and past my lips as I stared at the damage I had caused in such little time.

The clinical part of my brain still active noted that I was doing just over two thousand damage a hit, without my Chain to give me an even bigger edge, and they were still dropping like flies. My eyes flickered up to the now fading nametags of my enemies to find that they were sitting pretty at level 9 and 10. My right eye twitched as my hands clenched, and I snarled as the red haze threatened to be lifted. ' _Don't want to be calm right now, I_ _ **want to fuck shit up**_ _._ ' The thought threw me for a loop, because while I had always found some enjoyment in a good battle, this was a _slaughter_. There was no fun in that-

Bullets stole my attention and with the distraction the haze returned in full force. I returned the attack in kind, unholstering my Pistol and firing two rounds of the rather large Handgun at the man with a cheap assault rifle. The first shot hit him in the gut, his aura stopping it from piercing him, before the second bullet hit the banana magazine hanging underneath the weapon, igniting the Red Dust and destroying it in an explosion of heat and shrapnel. I turned to the left and unloaded the rest of the clip into the _**Coward**_ that had _**dared**_ to turn his back on me and run.

Shouts and yells erupted from further down the trail from behind me, and a feral smile crept across my face at the thought of more people to unleash my fury on. If I had been any less irritated, or any less itching for a good bit of stress relief, I would've rapped my fist against my head. I wasn't enjoying a fight, I was just taking out the trash. Cowards and petty tyrants trying to control and kill those that they didn't like or found to be in the way, and I happened to be on the list.

More importantly, so were my friends. And _that_ , was **unacceptable**.

As more **prey** began to move towards me in this gods-forsaken forest of stone and sand, I let loose a rumbling laugh that shook the trees, lacing it with the power of **[Panic!]** and **[Project Bloodlust]** at the same time. I reveled in the sight of the robed figures freezing in place under the quickly extending shadows of long dead trees as the sun continued to dip below the horizon as the two separate skills shook them to their cores, but I couldn't just kill them without explaining why.

If I was going to be the **Monster** in their story, I wanted to at least play the part well.

I unfurled my weapon and held my Pistol in my right hand out at my side, before I bowed to my opponents, _taking care to give them more respect than they deserved_. _I could smell it on them, the blood that they thought they had cleaned from their boots and robes and the amounts of violence they had caused for their 'Cause'. Had I given them a chance, they probably would've taken the high road, called me a monster or some sort of enemy to be fought._ _ **Sickening**_ _. At least I_ _ **admitted**_ _that I was a monster, these people thought they were doing good with their violence._ _They made their choice, and I've made mine._

" **Nothing Personal** ," I spoke Casually, watching as the Skills that were still blasting at full volume, activating two opposite signals of Adrenaline in the body, caused them to just lock in place instead of choosing between Fight or Flight, " **But You chose the wrong path to follow. Violence Just leads to more violence. Unfortunately for you, I'm here to deliver it to you**."

* * *

The Short handled mace slammed down into the Mask of the Ursa that was bearing down on the Opening in the wall as the wielder jumped over its mass and slammed a mass of Aura into the plate of bone on its back. He stood atop its body and called upon his Aura, feeling his breath catch in his throat as the energy passed through to move the Dust he had stored in the Handle before pointing the Weapon into the Horde coming from the Long dead forest towards the Town. The Yellow Dust glowed brightly around the dull steel weapon before an artificial bolt of lightning discharged into the crowd. The bolt caught A larger Beowolf in the torso before catching onto another and then a bulky Creep as it chained around the area.

He charged up another vial of Dust and unleashed it in an arc about his position, the maneuver only having enough power behind it stun Grimm that would become issues while dealing with the annoying Chaff swiftly. Luca huffed a heavy breath as his Aura coiled back down into his lungs as he roughly breathed in and out. His Cuirass was beginning to rub his armpits raw as it always tried to after hours of training, but now he couldn't risk using his Aura to heal the irritations and grit his teeth at the thought of having to work through it.

He looked around from his disappearing vantage point with the time he had bought himself to make sure everyone was still kicking, happy to see his team holding their own side of the Gap with ease, as Shebul conjured up constructs of Aura that set his neck hairs standing straight and Emily laid down suppressing fire from her Weapon and watching his blindspots when he needed to concentrate.

 _He needs to work on his conjuring time_ , spoke the clinical tones of his Semblance and Luca noted it for later in the back of his mind, _Before it becomes an issue_. He saw the relief member that was helping them hold the line, the Armored man with the Largest Rifle Luca had ever laid eyes on taking out the larger Grimm before they had even breached the Treeline. He glared back to the Trees as he remembered why his team needed a relief member and cursed his partner and all of her stubbornness before crouching to dive into the fray once more.

 _...Without mercy_ , whispered his semblance as he looked towards the treeline, and he stopped moving to try and pinpoint what it was analyzing. He narrowed his eyes and flung more dust towards his enemies and stayed in one place, using the flashes of light from the attacks to make out whatever his semblance was talking about. He kept his eyes out as he stepped into the swing of a juvenile Deathstalker and let loose a lance of lightning to pierce its carapace, for his Semblance never acted up like that. It always had a definite target, someone or something he was staring at for it to talk about, even if Luca was a few steps behind it on how it arrived at its conclusions.

He ducked as another of the Mercenaries seemingly teleported into His blindspot to dive into the staggered Grimm and finish it off, and his semblance once again was near silent on the young man with spiky blond hair. He figured the volume of his semblance had to do with how easy it was to figure things out, with the subtler people and things being like a whisper in his mind. It was why he had spent so much time trying to figure out Ashley in their earlier years, as she was a major example of someone exuding subtlety.

He leapt past the Stinger of the Deathstalker, leaving it to the teleporting Mercenary named Kenny, and slammed his mace into the ground in an explosion of Aura that knocked his Enemies back. He realized that he was over extending from the Wall, leaving the rest of his team to keep the breach contained, but he figured that as long as he kept the focus on him it would be well worth it. It couldn't be much longer until the Forest ran out of Grimm. They had been summoned from their temporary housing by a call from Taylor, alerting them that an explosion had caved in a part of the mine and killed a few miners. The six of them had all scrambled to Grab their gear and met the strange Mercenaries at the wall.

The Grimm had arrived not much later.

An explosion of Green Dust erupted in a gale of wind that tore away at the Grimm not fifty feet away from him, and he turned towards it to see Cosma playing Mad Bomber and throwing out handfuls of homemade explosives into the Grimm, with Roman hurling uncontrolled masses of Aura and Dust about as he fought in his feinting and twirling style of combat.

 _Clearing a way,_ his Semblance spoke, but for once he was ahead of it on the explanations. Roman had always been incredibly consistent in his ability to think on his feet and utilize all the resources at his exposal to the utmost utility.

Which meant that he always kept an eye for people that he needed, and would do his best to cover their asses.

His caught the Sweeping paw of a lesser Ursa on his forearm with a grunt and slammed his weapon up into the Jaw of his attacker. He rolled out from under its bulk as it slammed down on the spot where he had been standing and formed his Dust coated aura into a wave that he threw out to hit as many Grimm as possible before making a mad dash through the Hole in the Enemy that Roman and Cosma had made for him. He met up with them and immediately fell into the process of beating a running retreat back to their defensible position.

Luca let a tired smile come over his face as a heavy layer of gunfire finally erupted from the Two Bunkers on top of the unfinished wall and began tearing into Grimm, the SDC soldiers beating the Grimm back from the walls as best they could. Luca finally let himself limp back to the wall and leaned against a pile of rubble as the rush of adrenaline finally gave out and all of the minor wounds he had built up in his mad dash through the frontlines caught up to him. Now that he had breathing room he let his Dwindling Aura lick at them and repair the ones that would impair movement, and looked over to the Two Mercenaries that had yet to actually rush out into the fray to fight, with the armored one firing off ear piercing shots to take down armored Grimm and the spindly robed one bolstering himself with Aura to help the laborers finish setting up the makeshift wall as quickly as they could.

As he was catching his breath he felt more than heard a loud noise from behind him, and he recognized it more than he would like to admit. Past the staccato of gunfire and the roars of the Grimm he heard relatively small noises in the distance, but his eyes could pick up the shifting in the Forest of Sand and stone that lay outside of Sahili and extended South-East. Trees began to move in the dark of night, before suddenly they were falling or being torn out of the ground. He sighed as the noise and falling trees approached their position.

 _ **Protect**_ , intoned his Semblance underneath it all, the clarity it provided bleeding into his thoughts as he observed the inevitable. Around the Site of the Gap, Luca could see a few people noticing the change, but he didn't think they were ready for what was coming.

The _savage_ was a hard person to prepare for.

He watched as the trail of destruction hit the treeline and the last tree was sent sailing into the crowd of Grimm, knocking down and rolling over large Grimm in its path of devastation. He watched it come to a halt with a crash as it impacted the wall before turning his eyes with the rest of those watching to the young man that had sent it careening in their direction in the first place.

Even from over three hundred feet away, he could see the red eyes staring holes into the Grimm as they began to rally and continue their assault against walls and gunfire. Behind him was a path about four feet wide that was cut out of the petrified forest that continued as far as the shattered moonlight would all Luca's eyes to perceive, and at the opening stood Austin, looking like he was _beyond_ pissed.

He was immediately reminded of why he could hardly stand to look at the guy, because just as the more subtler people came across as a whisper in his Semblance, Austin was the exact opposite. The lack of subtlety and tact made him incredibly easy to decipher, which caused his semblance to shout its findings at the Volume of a Jet Engine.

 _ **PROTECT**_ , his Semblance roared in his mind, finally connecting the previously disjointed thoughts, _**WITHOUT. MERCY.**_

A roar that _everyone in Sahili_ could hear and feel as it hit them like a physical weight echoed his semblance, and he turned away from the Young man as he jumped into the Living mass of monsters that was only held back by a Bulletstorm with nothing but his Chain and a boat load of anger issues. Luca internally waved goodbye to his ability to think quietly for the rest of the month.

Luca could only sigh and send a text Taylor to tell her that she had missed her bestie's entrance.

* * *

I regained control of my body once my anger had run its course, and climbed out of the pile of Decomposing Grimm bodies towards the Walls of Sahili. I had been so close before I had snapped as well, had gotten within a mile of it before one of the less utilized parts of my class kicked in and I went from moving a little under twenty miles per hour to almost thirty, with a notification informing me that an ally was below fifty percent health. The red haze that had been inhabiting my vision for the past _twelve hours_ ever since I had left that bombed out town this morning had slammed down with a vengeance and I had blacked out.

I looked down at my hands with a grimace, as I noticed that they were stained with the Blood of humans and the Ichor of Grimm in equal measures. Past them I noticed my new boots absolutely drenched in the remains of Grimm, and as I checked about my person I noticed that underneath the sludge of combat I was also caked in dirt and grime from traveling and I didn't exactly feel great about that either.

But it just didn't make any sense why I was acting like this.

Rationally I knew that I was acting weird, but I couldn't actually figure out _why_. My hands were shaking and I was breathing hard, and as I looked around what was most certainly a battlefield that I had participated in by the sight of the craters, caved in hills, and trenches carved into the ground. Then, as if Fenrir was answering my thoughts, a notification popped in front of my eyes and I sighed at what looked to be another complication to my life.

* * *

 **Mechanic Unlocked; [Stress Meter]!**

 **Current Stress Level; (Max Stress = Res*10); [856/945]; Near Breaking Point!**

 _ **Having finally reached the maximum of your Stress capacity, you can now see where you stand. Reaching the upper limits of the Stress Meter can have negative effects on your sanity, and upon reaching 100% Stress you will lose control of yourself until you fall below 90% Stress. You cannot excede 100% Stress.**_

 **Known Triggers;**

 **-Annoyance; Amount varies between [1-100] Stress.**

 **-Ally in Danger; [100] Stress.**

 **-?**

 **Natural Stress Relief; (Res/100) per minute; .9 per Minute.**

 _ **In order to reduce stress, you must not activate a stressor in an Hour before you naturally relax. You can also do things that relax you to reduce stress, such as SLEEP. Lucky for you, dealing with enemies also reduces stress so you could do that as well. You may be naturally very resistant to Stress due to your extremely high Resilience, but it'll catch up to you eventually.**_

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Livin' on a Prayer]!**

 _ **Woah, oh, we're halfway there!**_

 **-Stay above 50% Stress for over twelve hours.**

 **Rewards; + 5% Max Stress, and + 2 Free Points.**

* * *

 **Due to actions, your Deadly SIn has shifted from [Sloth] to [Wrath]!**

 **Lost Effects;** _ **Wake me up when I give a fuck.**_

 **\- 50% Renown rewards, but also immune to Stress.**

 **Current Effect;** _ **You wouldn't like me when I'm Angry.**_

 **-When overstressed, your body will attack the source of stress.**

* * *

"Fuck," I spat out as I closed the Notification and made a mental note to never try to get whatever achievements came after that for being Stressed. The Free points were not worth the definite hazard, and just the thought of someone annoying me accidentally and then **[Wroth]** activating gave me chills. I'd prefer to be in charge of my violence, thank you very much. I cautiously put the two points I had earned into **Res** , just to give me a little extra assurance that I wouldn't snap.

And the less I thought about the **[Game]** categorizing my Cardinal Sin, the better.

I stomped the last few steps and pushed away the ursa that sat at the top of the pile of dead Grimm to find myself staring down at sparsely lit Gap in the wall that I had been so concerned about only two days ago. Which it had been, _no matter how long it felt like I had been running around the Frozen Sands_. I stilled as the thought appeared in my mind, before I let out a slow breath and let the thought go with it.

No reason to get even more stressed without reason. I had made it, that's what I needed to focus on. I looked up at the night sky and sighed, "This is my life now. Joy." Thankfully my Aura's cooling sensation was still there for me to hold onto, at least until I was under fifty percent **[Stress]** again.

As I started down the sandy hill, picking my path carefully so as to not trip upon the bodies that hid among the shadows and the night so easily, I noticed that the SDC troops were still anxious, and I didn't blame them. I had probably looked like something out of their nightmares, rampaging around like a wild animal. The amount of Bodies around me, obviously killed by blunt force trauma as opposed to the Bullets of the SDC, was a testament to what I was capable of doing.

"Austin!" came a yell, and as I looked around it I felt the grasp of Cosma's Semblance slip from my Mind. The Pinkette appeared in my peripherals on my left and I turned towards her, and the timid look she was giving me was like a punch to the gut. She stood there with her Shotgun in her arms, and her hands gripping it so hard that her already pale skin was the color of Paper and looking suddenly unsure of herself. I sighed and called upon my Aura, intent on Powering through, just like I always did. I'd never make the mistake again, I promised myself. It just wasn't something I had known about, so there wasn't much I could've done. Just another mistake I had made.

Still hurt, though.

"Was I that bad?" I asked her instead, trying to gauge exactly what the reaction was going to be. **[Instinct]** stretched out as I stood still and filled me in on the whisperings of the SDC; Only the fact that I had _stopped_ was holding them back from trying to gun me down. Footsteps drowned the whispers out as Roman made his way over to us, and his usual unaffected look was a much needed familiarity.

"Probably worse," He responded amicably, and the blunt way he spoke managed to get a small smile out of me and Cosma. He returned his Weapon to it's sheathed state, and with a small start Cosma did as well, her hands finally starting to stop shaking. He pointed at his green eyes, "Not the best introduction to the Guards here, I must admit. With the amount of Ichor and the eyes, the guards were fainting at the thought of a Grimm in the shape of a Human. Luca had to talk Chief Ramsay out of trying to kill you, and that was only after you took a Shot from a sniper that can take down adult Deathstalkers with a well placed shot."

I snorted in exasperation at the description and situation in General, but in all honesty it was better than I thought. At least they had agreed to not kill me just yet. "Great, I can't wait to see how they react to _why_ I was so pissed off," at their questioning looks I ushered them back towards the Walls and began to explain exactly what we had coming our way.

I made a mental note to thank Luca for talking down my firing squad.

* * *

Ashley tapped a rhythm into the Wood of the Table as the Officers in the Boardroom continued to bicker over discrepancies in Paperwork and missing Weapons and supplies. She mentally kicked herself for not being down at the wall with her Team, holding back the Horde that she had observed from the Window of the Fifth floor room. Thankfully it seemed that it hadn't been as urgent as she had thought it was, for the chatter over the Radios outside the room had quieted. She looked subtly out the window once more, making sure to not make it obvious that she wanted to be _anywhere_ but in this stuffy room with these old codgers complaining about a lack of funding, and was reassured when she saw no muzzle flare through the dark Night, nor any Grimm in the roving Spotlights of the Gap that were still standing.

She made eye contact with Mister Hazel, who dipped his head in a move that reassured her that at least someone understood what she was going through. Sure, she was perfectly aware that the ability to sit still and remain calm under pressure was something that all Huntsmen needed, but _Goddamn_ did it suck in practice. Even Miss Mourie had been unable to handle the need to do something and had gone down to help set up defenses. _Defenses that Ashley had insisted be set up yesterday_. And as she looked around the spotless room, with tidy stacks of paper the only blemish she was reminded of the worst thing about dealing with large structures; Bureaucracy.

And as she looked around the room, noting that Spietzel and Herrman looked just as _done_ with the Bureaucratic nonsense that was currently spewing forth from the SDC Officers mouth's. The General was even doing the same Hand cramp stretches that her mother did after a paperwork binge.

She wished that the rooms in the Main building hadn't been Soundproofed for the Mining Operations, because she could've used a racket to use as a smokescreen to escape the pointless meeting. She continued to beat the message of "Kill Me" in Morse code, with only the CCT manager Corporal Grant catching the meaning and lightly tapping out "Not yet" once in return. Her hands stilled for the first time in half an hour as she began to pick up vibrations in the metal floor beneath her feet. They continued to grow stronger and she recognized them as footsteps, footsteps of someone _heavy_.

She smiled as she realized that her favorite distraction had finally arrived. She snorted internally, _took him long enough._

There was a knock at the door, and the mousy Secretary in SDC White stuck his head in, "U-uh, General Spietzel, sir, there is someone here to see-" he stuttered out before he pulled backwards and thrown back into the hall with zeal. The door was then _shoved_ open by a hand that was painted Red and Black, leaving an absolutely nasty handprint on the otherwise pristine White Door.

In stepped her partner, with not an _inch_ of him uncovered by some form of contaminant. His normally wild grey hair was matted to his head and stuck up in spikes by blood and sweat, with crusty blood and ichor coated dirt falling off of his jacket in chunks to drop onto the floor, with Black Boot Prints already staining the Tiled floor of the hall. As the Board of Officers physically reeled away from him as a wave of stench rolled off of his body, smelling like Battlefield had decided it needed to go on a walk through a manure farm, he turned his head to his left and spit a glob of blood and dirt into the trash can.

Ashley clenched her jaw and her fists under the table to stop herself from laughing when his eyes met hers, and the irritation that he felt was visible in the vibrant red eyes. It was like the Wilderness had heard about the most pristine room in Vacuo and had sent its emissary to put an end to it.

The transport officer by the door, the same one that had gone above the General's head and hired Mercenaries, apparently decided that the affront to cleanliness was a threat because he hastily stood and unsheathed his saber. When the man stepped forward with a swing, and most of the other called out for him to stop, Austin stepped forward to meet him with a snarl, casually backhanding the Weapon out of his hand.

Ashley watched in amusement as it arced across the room and sunk into the far wall down to the hilt.

Austin growled as the Officer took a seat, now shaking and looking shell-shocked, before he looked at the General with the closest thing to Respect that Austin could muster. He swiped at his matted hair, "Should've guessed you were in charge here, Klaus," He growled out before pointing at Hermann, "It isn't the first time an Officer of yours has tried to run me through upon first meeting me."

"Don't walk around looking like a monster, if you don't want to be attacked like one" the General returned, though he made sure to glare at the Officer, "Though I must say that a disciplinary action will be taken. Of that you can be assured."

"Don't care," He returned fiercely as he scrubbed at his hands to get the dried blood off of them, "Imma keep this quick. I just wanted to let you guys know that you have an army coming down on your Doorstep," His words were met with silence, and Ashley could make out Roman and Cosma watching from the Hallway with the secretary. They were all cringing at the bluntness of the statement, but Austin barreled through. He held up one hand and began counting on his fingers what information he had, "I know two things; They're the Radical faction that deserted from the White fang last year, which I know because I found a _few_ on the way here, and they're on their way here, which I know because I… _asked them nicely_. Probably be here in about two or three days. I don't know what equipment they have, how many there are, or what the fuck they want."

Everyone, even the unflappable Hazel sat there staring at him in incredulity, with only one or two officers managing to put together anything resembling words, before he turned on his heel and stalked out of the Room, casually yelling over his shoulder, "I'm gonna get a shower, a sandwich, and a bed, _in that order._ **Anyone** who tries to stop me is gonna end up like that guy's sword."

The sound of Cosma smacking herself in the face reverberated around the Boardroom. Roman was more aware and carefully reached out and closed the door before grabbing his partner and making a quick escape.

Ashley sat back and waited, still stifling her chuckles that threatened to erupt as she watched the stunned officers look around at each other. All at once they erupted into a flurry of action, squawking and yelling in a cacophony of noise that resembled first year Chorus Practice. The General kept his cool and tried to speak calmly and rationally, before his temper broke and he grabbed his mug and smashed it against the table. The noise startled the panicked officers into relative silence, and the General began to give out orders, "Grant, Get to the CCT and see what information you can find that can confirm or deny what he said. Ramsay, I don't care if he's talking out of his ass, _I wanted the temporary ramparts finished_ _ **yesterday**_. I don't care if you have to tear down a house or two, _make it happen_."

The Transport officer stood as Grant passed, "I'll go with the Corporal and try to get in touch with the shipment's we're expecting tomorrow," and saluted and left when the General Nodded at him.

 _Ah yes,_ _the mortal enemy of inefficiency_ , Ashley thought to herself as the General ordered her and Hazel to get the Other huntsmen in Training ready for whatever was coming their way, _Urgency. I'd like to see someone try to get the General to sign a form now._

As she moved out of the room she heard someone make the mistake of talking back to the near of a man, and the resulting booming voice reminded everyone in the office, that while he did indeed work for the SDC he was a soldier, a _warrior,_ at heart. " _I am charged with the safety and well being of everyone in this Town,_ _ **Of course that includes the workers!**_ "

 _They'd probably get their arms torn off._

* * *

 **(6 Months and sixteen days in)**

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 22: 1475/2200 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 46292/46292 HP Regen: 998 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1841/1841, Stm Regen: 75 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 8184/8184, Ap Regen: 205 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level: [856/945], Stress Regen: .92 per minute.**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (130) 138**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 43**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (168) 175**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 8**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 92**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 951**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 32479**

 **Pistol Atk: 291**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 292 Damage.**

 **Mag; 18 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** _ **you**_ **don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate an eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach];** _ **Hard heads Prevail!**_

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

* * *

 **Deadly Sin; [Wroth];** _ **You wouldn't like me when I'm Angry.**_

 **When overstressed, your body will attack the source of stress.**

* * *

 _So, I am actually unsure of whether or not I'm being paranoid or the quality of my writing is truly going down. Either way, I'm already planning ahead more for the next Arc of the story than the entire Sahili/Irritation Arc so that'll hopefully help out some. I might go out of my way to make it shorter and more light hearted than these last two, which were focused on Heavier emotions like Nostalgia and Anger than say Joy. There'll be a bit of action mixed into the Humor, so don't worry about that, but I just felt like I was bloating the story with unneeded pathos._

 _Like, I get it, Austin has emotions._ _ **Get back to punching**_ _._

 _Reviews were pretty light this Chapter and I answered them individually in Direct messages (Hint: if you leave a review with a question or issue, check your inbox. I'm pretty good at responding to them.)_

 _In related news I'm planning on going back and updating the first chapter to hopefully cut down on the Stat spamming that quite a few people mention in reviews, though I'd like to point out that it is a common issue with the first chapter of Gamer Fics. Just think of it as the Tutorial screen for the game, and it'll be fiiiiiine._

 _Unrelated news, managed to pass 400 followers last Chapter, which is_ _ **insane**_ _, so thanks for reading and reviewing and following and shite._

 _Alright, Jericho Out._


	27. Level 2: Part 8

_Interlude A_

* * *

The Hammering of feet on the new asphalt that made up the roads of Sahili in the dusky light did little to ease the mind of Friedrich, as he watched the men, who were ostensibly _not_ military men no matter what the SDC claimed, struggle to maintain a jog around the perimeter of the base. He even saw some people resorting to activating their auras to keep moving, _even though he had explicitly told them not to_. That was his biggest issue with the usual SDC run-of-the-mill guard or bureaucrat, it wasn't the lack of training, lack of motivation, or even the selfishness that most exhibited.

It was the total lack of discipline.

He had been put in charge of putting the errant SDC forces that weren't used to manning the walls or doing physical labor, also known as the _officers_ , through a pretty rough regiment, the same one that General Spietzel had put him through when he had been a Greenhorn. With the amazingly useful tool of Aura you could improve someone's Cardiovascular health in very little time, and with the advent of _special mental exercises_ discovered by the Atlesian Military a few years ago you could recover Aura impressively quickly when out of stressful situations.

So, Hermann did as he was told. He worked the Bureaucrats into the ground, had them return to the mess for some fuel, made them go through the exercises to recover Aura, and then ran them again.

He could literally see their metabolisms speeding up as their Aura sought to heal their bodies after the intensive workout. Yes, they may be all but running on Aura and be out of commission for a few hours of rest. Yes, the routine only worked for a little under a day as their bodies were forced to adapt by their Aura. And Yes, it was proven to be horrible for the health of internal organs or anything else that was harder to heal.

But as long as they survived the Fang, Hermann didn't truly care.

" _ **Grant!**_ " He yelled over the huffing and puffing at the Gasping Corporal that was bringing up the rear. Hermann was severely unimpressed by the man's level of fitness, but he was probably one of the more disciplined members of the Troop, never even dipping into his Aura to try and keep up. " _ **By the Brothers, are you some type of slow! I need you moving at the speed of sound, not the speed of SMELL!**_ " He knew that he was laying it on pretty thick, but he really didn't care. These weren't his men, and they knew it.

Gasping, with enough sweat to drown himself in if he slipped pouring down his face, "S-Sir, Sorry, Sir!" He got the hint though and with that little bit of prodding he tried his damnedest to pick up speed. Hermann slowed down until he running alongside the man, and looked around. They were less than half a mile away from where the Workforce was erecting makeshift walls, and a wicked smile came to his face.

" **Corporal, I don't think you're motivated enough!** " he yelled into the man's ear, ignoring the pity that crawled through him when the portly man winced, " **So, we're gonna have a race. If you manage to beat me to the walls then you get peace of mind, but if you lose every single person in this troop has to go for another Run!** " A wave of gasps and groans tore from the ragged throats of the Officers, and he laughed at the thought he was the one introducing them to hard work.

Corporal Grant gave him a terrified look, but Hermann just began pulling away with a carefree smile on his face. He was entirely unsurprised when the Suddenly steely eyed and grimacing Corporal came tearing past him in a dead sprint for the Walls.

" _ **Double Time!**_ " He yelled over his shoulder as he began to lope after him, swiftly eating up the ground in between him and his quarry. He could have easily overtaken him, or even poured his Aura into his legs to just tear past him, but the exercise wasn't one of fitness or aura control, cardio never was. Actually, if it had been then he would've labeled Grant as a lost cause. Low Aura reserves and poor conditioning, the man wasn't meant for Bursts of speed.

The red faced man looked over his shoulder and made eye contact, the terror suddenly replaced with determination and he continued to sprint towards their location.

No, the human body was able to do things well outside of the imagination, and was designed to go for far longer than a person might think. But utilizing that, pas the burning sides and the sharp pains in the gut, was a thing of _Discipline_. And Grant had that in spades.

Hermann smiled as he settled into a fast jog as they neared the Defensive fortifications and turned to the rest of the troop as they tried to match his speed. They weren't terrible, but he _had_ seen children with better form than these men and women. They would be the weak links when the terrorists came, with even the Workers being in far better shape than the paper-pushers. He congratulated them and told them that they had managed to earn their supper and rest thanks to a certain someone.

He looked over his shoulder to congratulate the Corporal for winning their race, but didn't find him on the ground or leaning against the rough stone walls as he thought he would. Instead he saw the raggedly breathing man in a fitful bursts of grey Aura that stood out starkly against the orange-red of Dusk as he leaned against the walls of Sahili, _a mile away_.

Maybe there was some hope for him after all.

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

He swiped the hair out of his eyes as he tapped his pen against the Notebook laying on the coffee table, the thoughts just not congregating quite how he wanted them to. The stress of the past twenty-four hours was something that he'd never experienced, because while dealing with Grimm had the underlying threat of Death a _terrorist invasion_ was on a different level. Hazel and Miss Mourie had immediately stepped up to the plate and began personally escorting whatever Workers they could to nearby installations, and the last he had heard they were gathering wayward SDC troops to bring back with them. With Austin had come a flurry of activity, and While Cosma and Austin were busy helping with the fortifications, Ashley stuck dealing with the SDC, and team TESL on almost constant wall duty, he had been here.

Planning.

He almost missed the sound of the door closing behind him, and was mildly surprised that anyone would be home before nightfall. "Thoughts?" came the velvet smooth tones of his Leader from the door of the Kitchen that they were all sharing, and he turned from the Chair that he was sitting in to make eye contact with her, a flash of concern appearing in his green as they clashed with tired amber, before he waved her towards another seat around the Coffee table.

"Many," Roman answered with a small smile as he began turning the pages in his notebook, which he never did for his own benefit. He had taken to writing the plans down for his Father to see and understand, and the habit had stuck with him just due to how much easier people seemed to understand his plans when they were written down or drawn. "So many issues, so little time. Where would you like me to start?"

Ashley smiled and rolled her eyes as she made herself comfortable in her seat, a rather expensive looking Couch that was made out of _metal_ like everything else in the home _including the walls._ Roman was ripped from the torture that was the first night's rest by his Leaders words, "Let's start with smaller and potentially unavoidable issues please, I'd like to know what I have to deal with as opposed to what can be changed."

Roman raised an eyebrow at her, somewhat surprised by her nonchalant attitude, and commented on it even as he flipped forwards to the correct pages, "Truly? That doesn't sound right." She was a much more hands-on leader, usually, but it seemed that the stress was getting to her as well.

She shrugged and tossed her raven hair over her shoulder before staring down her nose at him, "I'm not unconcerned, I just figured that you would take care of what you could and I'd handle the what you couldn't." She smoothed down her skirt and gave him her best demure smile, "Unless you wish to switch jobs with me?"

Instantly the amount of effort that would be necessary made the decision for him and he shook his head in denial, "No thank you, I'll leave the miracles to you and Austin." His finger landed on a rough diagram of the city with notes scribbled all over it and decided to start simple, "First off, the city was designed to accomodate large mining equipment and delivery vehicles, so the streets are wide, much too wide to adequately block off with any materials we have on hand. The Houses were made as quickly as possible and the standard models are the same height, allowing for movement basically across the entire Housing District once you make it onto the Roofs. The Fang will probably have about ten times the men that we do, and unknown levels of equipment, and an innate ability to operate in lowlight conditions."

Ashley nodded along with the points and waited until he was done, "Yes, those are definitely unavoidable with the time constraints we have. I have a few stop gaps for some of those, but nothing to permanently take them off the table," She paused before quirking a sardonic smile his way, "Save, keeping them out of the city entirely."

"Of course. Almost all of our issues would be solved by that," He agreed with a tired smile, deciding not to voice the obvious in the statement. Namely, that there was no way in hell that the Terrorists weren't going to breach the incomplete walls, "But I would enjoy having someone to discuss some of the issues I haven't quite figured out yet. Are you free as of now?"

"No more meetings," She singsonged with a content sigh, "At least until we've managed the impossible and repelled an invasion."

"Just think of how good your resume will look after two and a half more years of this," Roman mock-comforted. He turned to the page he had been working on before she had arrived, "But the biggest issue that I believe can be handled is one of information. We have no idea who we are fighting, what they will be using, or what they are after, which is a bit of an issue. How are we supposed to defend against something we do not understand?"

"And you think you can solve this?" Ashley questioned, and had it been almost anyone else, he would've expected condescension in their voice, but Ashley had always trusted him and his capabilities. This may have to do with the fact that he was very up front with his short-comings and weaknesses, but equally blunt with his ability to perform a task. If he said he could do it, then he could do it given enough time.

"I know I can," he answered before squinting at the Notes he had scribbled down, "But I don't know how, yet. I feel like it's right on the edge of my tongue, and I just can't figure it out," he looked up and grimaced, "It's rather annoying to tell you the truth."

Ashley snorted in amusement, and Roman heard the front door opening and the sounds of people coming their way, but chose to ignore them in favor of his annoyance, "I mean, we have the CCT, which is a major information gathering tool by itself, and a network of speakers already used to blast stuff at all hours of the day, so we would be able to spread information around once we got it without any issue, but _gathering it_ is still a mystery."

"Would you be able to track Scrolls over the CCT?" came the tired voice of his partner as she flopped into her seat next to him, not even bothering to greet him. Roman looked over her Dust covered hat and saw Austin, covered in dirt and grime once more, who grunted at him as he made his way through the kitchen to the refrigerator.

"If they had them on?" Roman pondered before nodding and scribbling it down on the paper, "Yes, I'm sure you could. Not very well, but enough to tell where the larger groups of people were. I'll raise it with the CCT commander when I go see him tomorrow."

"Do you think using the Speakers is the best idea?" Ashley asked from her chair, "They aren't exactly _subtle_."

"What Speakers you talkin' bout, Girlie?" Austin asked as he walked in with a sandwich the size of Cosma's head and sat heavily into the seat next to Ashley, none of the four seeming concerned when the piece of furniture creaked and _bent_ under his weight.

"The Speakers that are almost constantly blaring about where workers are needed? The ones that make it almost impossible to sleep soundly?" Ashley answered deadpan, already guessing correctly that the Savage had _somehow_ not noticed. He raised an eyebrow at her before taking a massive bite out of his sandwich, and went back to ignoring the world around him.

Collectively, the three civilized members of Team ACRA breathed in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, and Roman realized that somehow seeing Austin be almost unaffected by the unfamiliar surroundings of the House was comforting. Like steel, his psyche was unyielding to the outside world, and managed to be a comfort even though it was by far one of the hardest things to understand about his team.

"Back on topic," he steered the conversation back to his issue, and he felt the stress that had been threatening to choke his team out was starting to slip away as Ashley and Cosma offered valid suggestions and valid plans, while Austin watched with vacant eyes. It went that way for thirty minutes, and just when Roman was about to call it quits Austin yawned into his hands and spoke clearly, "I've got an idea, no idea if it'll work though."

Roman made eye contact with Cosma, who looked bewildered, and then Ashley who looked genuinely interested. Roman… had no idea what to expect. The guy was many things, Strong, Persistent, _scary..._ Strategist didn't exactly sit at the top of the list. But, looking at Ashley encourage him into sharing, he figured that he'd follow his leader on this as well and see what he had in mind.

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

With a Harsh grunt I set the last timber into its hole, and waved over a pair of Laborers that were taking a break. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and ignored the stinging sensation of my sweat getting into my eyes as I passed them, and they thanked me for my help. I waved them off and left them to finish the work that I couldn't do, which was basically anything that required delicacy and experience, and went on my way. It had taken two whole days, but we had managed to approach something that vaguely resembled a defensive effort for the attack that was forthcoming.

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Laborer]!**

 _ **I work with my hands, leave the thinkin' for someone else.**_

 **Spend over ten hours total [Encumbered; Stage 2] or higher!**

 **Rewards; [Strong Back] Trait and + 2 Free Points**

* * *

 **Trait Earned; [Strong Back]**

 **Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.5+50) to (Str*3.75+50)!**

* * *

I irritably swiped away the notifications even as I felt my body becoming a little heavier and the tiny aches and sores from carrying stuff around all day disappear as my Carry Weight increased by almost half again and my body adapted to reflect that. I pulled up my **[Status]** page and stared at the page, and for once I wondered about the Stats that I ignored in favor of Con, Str, and Res. Int and Cha were a lost cause, because just as a test I put a point in Int without confirming it and was disappointed to find that it stayed as a one, which meant that the system was tracking negative numbers without telling me about them. Quick math told me that my Int was around negative thirty and my Cha was around negative forty-five.

* * *

 **It acts like its a one, but yes it is most definitely stored in the negatives. Those are something to thought of after your class stops making them worse, or never thought of again. Either one is viable.**

* * *

I nodded in acceptance of the Message from Fenrir, before deciding that unless something major happened to my stat layout I'd never be touching those stats in my life. Just another side effect of Min-Maxing my hardest, I supposed. I put a point in Wis, and watched what stats changed in response, with the range of **[Instinct]** increasing significantly but not much else changing. Even the chance that an Aura based Skill would _explode_ didn't change, still sitting at a measly five percent chance.

* * *

 **That is actually a surprise. Wisdom is the only stat listed as effecting it, so it should get better. Unless, of course, there is some other hidden modifier screwing you over on this one. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.**

* * *

" _Just another way that I'm broken_ ," I growled harshly as I dismissed the message and put the two points into Dex and Agi, deciding that a little extra speed wouldn't hurt me. In fact, had I been faster I might have finished the damn fortifications faster without having to rely too much on others.

Now, I was of the opinion that we all could've been finished _last night_ had the people in charge taken me seriously, but as it was they hadn't been _enthusiastic_ about following orders until the CCT confirmed that a large force was heading our way. Suddenly they were full of energy and willingness to work when they believed their lives to be on the line, the selfish bunch of pricks.

I snorted with a fond smile as I made my way to the grey _box_ the SDC was trying to pass off as a house and realized that it was a tad hypocritical to condemn them for being selfish. Hell, as I looked around the almost empty town I had to wonder why they were here, because if my people weren't I'd never have chosen to come to a shithole like this. Especially before the cookie-cutter houses were appropriately populated, because as I looked down the street it felt like I was in a ghost town without a soul in sight.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard the quiet sound crackling and of feet landing behind me and was amazed when **[Instinct]** suddenly alerted me to the presence of someone within arm's reach. I whirled around and found an equally bewildered mercenary staring at me, with his hand up and mouth open, "Yo?" he said, finishing the greeting that I assumed I had almost scared him out of. I stared at the spiky blond man, who stood tall and wispy in what looked like casual clothes, but **[Instinct]** brought smells of Dust and something _unnatural_. I heard the sound of metal on fabric and the way he had just appeared in my space told me that he was a potential threat, but **[Detect Bloodlust]** wasn't pinging him as hostile.

"How'd you do it?" I asked, not really expecting a truthful answer, but willing to use it as a guidepost for how to interact with the guy. As an afterthought my eyes went up and took in his Nametag. It left me with a less than stellar impression.

 **[Kenny "Kelter" Bagnasco]**

 **[Level 29 Assassin]**

 **[** _ **Cold-Blooded**_ **]**

He smiled a toothy smile, a smile much different than my feral one or Cosma's faux innocent one, and spread his hands out in front of his head in a flourish, "Magic!" I raised an eyebrow at him, and made to leave before something… _odd_ happened.

* * *

 **[Message from; [Kelter]]**

 **[Subject; [You seein this shit?]]**

 **[Message;[probs not lol]]**

 **Reply? [Y/N]**

* * *

I stared at the Notification for a few moments, before I accepted the prompt and turned to the smiling man with a scowl. "Magic, huh?" I mentally composed the perfect message for what I intended to get across and smiled sardonically as I hit send. I saw the exact moment he received the notification as his eyes widened slightly, and the exact moment he read the contents of the message because he broke out into chuckles. It was the appropriate response to my entire **[Notes]** section of foul language, after all. "You do this to everyone you meet or am I just special like that?"

His blue eyes gave nothing away as he continued to smile at me, "Reedy said your stats were impossible, and I managed to convince him that you might not be a monster that we need to kill," He scratched the back of his head for _some_ emotion that I just couldn't get a hold on. It looked like confusion masked with embarrassment, like he couldn't understand why his friend would react like he had to my stats. "He's paranoid like that."

"But not you," I confirmed, as the realization of why snapped into place, "You'd test me and have no problem getting out of range to call in help."

He shrugged before I felt, _heard,_ the crackle and fizzle of Aura behind me and he _moved_. I turned around just as he appeared in my blind spot and caught his hand as it moved out to touch me. He smiled at me and cheerfully stated, "Or I could go for the kill the fastest. Though most people can't-" He disappeared from my grasp and I turned to my left and stepped forward as he appeared, my left hand grabbing the front of his shirt as I growled, "-Figure out where I'm going to-" Once more he appeared behind me, but this time a few feet away and outside of my personal space with a perplexed look, "-Be. Hmm, that's weird. How do you have **[Precognition]**? Reedy said you had rocks for brains, and it took him two years of studying to get that skill."

I reached up and flicked my left ear and smiled a crooked smile, "Don't, but I can hear your Aura, which I think you're just throwing out to where you want to go. It's not a very high level Skill, at least," Because I dealt with rather skill heavy people on the daily, and Ashley was so proficient with her Aura that it barely made a noise until it was a conflagration.

He blinked at me, "You hear-? You absolute Madlad," He spoke with awe and clapped as he prowled around me, with a joy that was _not_ on his face, "You use your basic Sensory skills in the middle of battle, or at the very least sparring? I could never focus enough on anything to make use of **[Hearing]** , to be honest with you."

I narrowed my eyes as a wave of… _something_ hit me and was ignored entirely by my brain as I stared the man down. He still wasn't intent on doing me harm, but that didn't mean that couldn't change in a moment. For a moment he stayed in place as though expecting some kind of response, but I only gave him my gaze as my Red clashed with Blue. It was an experience to meet someone else that had undergone something similar to me to gain access to the **[Game]** , but I honestly wasn't that excited or concerned about it. If it weren't so annoying I might consider helping someone else achieve it, but it didn't feel all that important that someone else had it. If anything, it was a confirmation that I was just another notch in the bedpost of Life, having fucked over many before and countless more after me.

"Ya know," He started, without any real emotion behind the words, "I'm pretty good at talking, but even I can't have conversation by myself," and had I been any less of an asshole I might've felt bad about snubbing the man, but as it stood I tried my best to observe him clinically.

"Talk to your Grimm if you want to talk to someone so badly," and a smirk etched itself onto my face as _that_ got a reaction and he went still, no longer pretending to be innocent as he stared at me like the predator that he was. No malice to the action, but there also wasn't any warmth. Simply how he looked at me now that I had thoroughly surprised him, and it was definitely more comforting to see than the nausea inducing expressions from before.

"You speak to your Grimm?" He spoke slowly, his previously cheerful voice now flat and curious. I watched as his hands twitched towards where I assumed he kept his weapons, and smiled at the thought of him trying to attack me. I wasn't arrogant in saying that I could and _would_ level the block the moment he tried anything.

"Yes," I answered simply, "He's a bit annoying sometimes, but all around a nice guy. Hasn't led me wrong since I met him."

"The Books said that the Grimm was a corrupting force, one that drew you towards the Younger Brother if you left it unchecked," He stated clinically, "Are you saying that they were wrong?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Dunno, you tell me. Do I look corrupted to you?" I bared my elongated and much too sharp canines and looked him dead in the eyes. I lowered myself to slightly and leaned forward, holding my arms out to my sides and all but begging him to find out. I didn't actually expect him to react like that, but I wasn't all that disappointed when he held my gaze and narrowed his eyes at me, entirely unaffected by my countenance and instead pondering what I was implying.

Slowly, a small yet devious smirk appeared on his face as he spoke lowly, "Interesting. But I can keep this up all day," and then I felt the crackle of Aura behind me once more. I jumped backwards and slammed my back into the wall of the nearest house.

It was a small bit of information about a few old games I had played back in my days on the Mount, where the **[Assassin]** class's main ability was called **[Shadow Step]**. It allowed them to move into a target's blindspot, _magically_ , allowing them to deliver a sneak attack in the middle of combat. And I noticed the similarities between the two techniques when he continued to appear _behind_ me even when I had moved _after_ he had disappeared, which meant it was based on _my location_ and not some location he was choosing. This was easily testable.

And if I had my back to the wall…

I smiled ferally as I heard the thump of someone landing on the metal floors of the house as opposed to the asphalt road. " _Goddamn it!_ " he yelled on the other side of the solid steel wall, and the locked door to my right as I strode off towards the house I was occupying once more.

"Yeah, let's put this on hold until after the Fang get here, alright buddy boy?" I chuckled when his muffled agreement and a raucous noise that I assumed was him tripping over metal furniture filtered through the wall. I stuck my hands in the pockets of my Jacket and snorted at the encounter, making sure to keep my attention on him as I walked away, but all he did was extricate himself from the house and flip me off before making his own way away from the scene. I sent him another Message calling him a cunt and was unsurprised when he told me to kindly fuck off.

Ah, what a wonderful friend I had possibly made.

I clunked up the steps to the Front door and entered the abode, intent on taking a shower before the others showed up and made a fuss.

* * *

"Freezin' my balls off," said the younger of the two Sentries that stood watch on the wall, huddled in his armor hoping for some form of warmth. He looked over at his partner for the shift who stood as still as a statue, with his gun in hand watching the treeline endlessly, like a golem with only one purpose.

A deep rumble emanated from his chest and then his nose as the Snore erupted into the open, and the younger guard sighed and left his single-minded partner to his rest. "Maybe when I wake him up later he'll let me take a nap in his place," He muttered as his fringed nerves had him watching his surroundings like a hawk.

Sure, he knew that the other guards weren't taking this seriously and most of them thought this was an overreaction on the higher ups part, some didn't listen at all because it came from that _animal_ that had cleaned up the horde and who in their right mind would listen to a Beast? It didn't help that a few of the guys had been spreading rumors about the Huntress-in-training, the _faunus_ , that was on the wall for almost three days straight.

Obviously, she was waiting on the _beast_ , and that was enough to convince the older guys that he was an " _animal-fucker_ " and therefore even _less_ trustworthy than before. The damn mutts were the ones that were doing the raiding, so if an animal-fucker came saying they needed to draw all their troops back to Sahili, it meant that the Fang was gonna attack the smaller villages instead.

Sure, he heard them loud and clear, and while he didn't have any love for the animals, he didn't hate them like most of the others. After a few months of everything that tried to gut them having ears, most grew hatred, but him? He grew fear instead. Kept him alive or at least it'll make you quicker to pull the alarm than most, Chief had said when he raised it with him.

If only his fear kept him _warm_ instead, he thought to himself as his breath began to frost in front of his face. Two months until summer, and the Frozen sands cared not. When it froze, it froze. There were no true seasons here, only various shades of winter.

"Yet another thing I am scared of,'' he grit out through clenched teeth as he rubbed his hands together and looked out to the brewing horizon as storm clouds began to turn grey and make their way over the forest of stone. "Freezing to death on a cloudless night because it's not regulation to wear jackets or stand watch by the windows. Two fears too many, as far as I'm concerned."

And so he kept watch, partner asleep and hand on the alarm. Waiting for movement.

* * *

It was an odd scene that I came upon when I came back downstairs, a coffee table covered in papers, mugs, and schematics surrounded by Ashley, Roman, and the members of Team TESL all diligently reading or writing something down. "When did the living room turn into a War Room?" I asked as I passed them and entered the kitchen, where Cosma was looking into the Fridge with a frown on her face.

"When we got home after visiting the CCT," Ashley answered without even looking up, continuing to observe the map in front of her with narrowed eyes. Thankfully, it looked like she had gotten a good bit of sleep last night as the minor bags that she had been sporting were gone. She looked up at me and stared at me with a questioning eyebrow from behind her glasses, "What?"

I grunted and shrugged my shoulders, "Don't overdo it," I warned lightly, immediately gathering the attention of everyone in the room, Some nasty looks sent my way at my comment.

"Do you want us to run directly into the enemy, dick in hand?" growled a petulant Emily, her obviously the hardest time when it came to comfort. Her hair was a mess and her eyes looked bloodshot, not to mention the way that one hand shook as it held a pencil and the other was white knuckling a mug of Coffee. Though the biggest indicator of her condition was the fact that she was swearing.

Shebul was handling the stress like a champ as far as I could tell, still mostly unaffected and just tired. He tried to hide a yawn behind his hand, but Emily caught sight of it and immediately yawned in return, before scowling and downing the rest of her coffee. Luca had been put under so his Aura could go to town on his injuries from a few days ago, but he seemed to be healthy despite the looks of half of his team.

"You got a dick?" Taylor asked distractedly as she cleaned her weapons in her lap, which managed to put some fuel on the dying embers of Emily's Fire, suddenly looking more alert than before. As Emily made some petulant remark and Taylor responded in kind, Taylor sent me a nod over her head, probably to indicate that she knew what I was saying.

"All I'm saying is that if ya make a giant plan that you think covers all your bases, you're in for a rough time," I clarified to the Room before turning to the Kitchen to look over Cosma's head into the Fridge myself.

"We'd be better off learning the city and getting some shuteye," Luca agreed reluctantly putting his Papers down on the floor next to his Chair. His team nodded their heads in agreement, and seemed to sag into themselves at the thought of rest. Luca and the Tired pair quickly packed up their stuff before vacating the room for their bunks, leaving only my team and Taylor downstairs.

I gave them no more of my attention as I realized why Cosma was frowning; we didn't have any food.

None that I was willing to eat, anyway.

"Who ate my sandwich meat," I asked irritably to the room at large, as I bent over Cosma and pulled out the drawer where I had stored my emergency supply of food. I turned back to glare at them, and then Ashley as her cheeks reddened and she coughed into her hand. I shook my head and chuckled good-naturedly, "Betrayed by my own Leader, How could ya Ash?" I closed the door of the fridge and moved around Cosma to get back into the living room to give her a good-natured glare.

"I was hungry," She retorted imperiously, a little mischievousness flitting behind her amber eyes even as she was still blushing at being called out, "What was I supposed to do, walk up to the store myself? Come now, we all know that's far beneath someone like me."

"So you ate my ice cream too?" Cosma asked incredulously, and this time it was Roman that coughed inconspicuously. She rounded on him with an affronted look, "For shame, taking my hard earned Sweets, I should fire you, Roman," She harrumphed and grabbed my hand and made as though she was going to pull me along as she walked past, ignoring Roman's quiet statement that he was in fact not paid and at best volunteer labor, "Me and my new patsy are going to the store to get more Ice Cream," She announced, before stopping and adding for my benefit, "Probably some steak, too."

"Roger, Wilco," I agreed robotically and she moved towards the door with her usual bounce to her step, but I still looked around the room, "Anyone need anything else?"

"Peanuts," Taylor spoke up with a smirk, "With as much salt as you can find, please," I shot her a curious look and she shrugged, "Salt is the only thing that Emily won't touch, and peanuts taste good, sue me." I held my hands up in a placating gesture, as though I was saying _none-of-my-business_ and she relented before returning to her work.

"No, your stolen food was quite filling," Ashley graciously responded, so I flipped her off as I left, and her lilting tones followed me as I exited the house, "But thank you for asking, you make such a good lackey," with my enhanced hearing I heard her speak to the room even after I'd closed the door, "You told me it was yours!" followed by Taylor's laughter.

I shook my head as I made my way to where Cosma was standing in the street, watching the clouds, and I gave her a look when she jumped at my approach, "The hell's gotten into you, girlie? I'm used to you bein' distracted, but _anyone_ can hear me comin'. What gives?" I looked around the sparsely lit streets as we made our way to the commissary, and grunted at the light snowfall that was coming down.

"Nothing important," She returned, and I gave her my patented _You-shittin'-me_ look in response. She relented with a sigh as opened up her parasol to ward away errant snowflakes, "Do you remember the night we were made a team and I told you that I had had a boring life with nothing crazy?" I nodded my head, and narrowed my eyes as I continued to take stock of our surroundings. If she was distracted, then I'd pick up the slack like I always did. She looked at me askance before barreling on ahead, "I lied. My Mom died protecting me, and my Dad hates me."

I blinked at the suddenness of the statement, and gave her a look only to see that she was purposefully using her Parasol and our height differences to avoid eye contact, "Why?" I asked, grimacing as I realized exactly what kind of shit I had stepped in. Where was her calm and collected, eternally patient partner or my understanding leader when I needed them?

Oh right, trying to figure out how to keep us alive as long as possible.

"Mom d-died when a bunch of raiders attacked the Town we lived in," She said with only minor hiccups, "And Dad hates me because I couldn't stop them from doing it and taking my sister."

" _By the brothers_ ," I hissed under my breath, turning back to look at the house and wonder if it was too late to run back and get someone more suited to the situation. It was only my extremely strong sense of loyalty that kept me from fleeing the uncomfortable situation, a feeling that was thankfully bolstered by my soothing Aura. I couldn't just leave her crying, and I could hear a quiet voice in the back of my head begin to chant the words ' _protect her_ ' over and over again.

I would comply.

"Yup," she spoke as the smell of salt hit my nose, and I grimaced harshly as I realized I was dealing with a crying woman without any way to cope, "It's why I joined the Academy, I thought that if I got strong enough I could find her. And…" She wiped at the tears on her face as we stopped moving, "And maybe Dad'll like me again. And maybe that'll make me feel better, ya know?"

"Yes," I spoke simply, as my mind clamped onto the only route of attack that it could understand, "Yes I do." I stuffed my hands into the pockets of the jacket she made me, and I looked skywards to watch the gently drifting snow, _my mind whirring._

She wiped at her face again and moved her pink bangs out of her face and tried to give me a blubbery smile, "I'm sorry, but seeing everyone get ready for a raid just brought the memories back, I shouldn't be-"

"Where?" I cut her off mid sentence as Fenrir began to ready the maps for reference. I could feel a thrum to the beat of the chant, but instead of overpowering other thought or sensation it seemed to amplify it as the background noise continued to grow more and more powerful.

She stopped herself and gave me an odd look, "Excuse me?"

"Where did this happen?" I clarified as I realized that she wasn't made like I was, single-minded determination and inability to communicate effectively, and looked down at her with that determination shining through, "I need to know where we're going to look for her."

I could see the gears whirring in her head as the thoughts connected, and hope blossomed across her face, hidden behind sadness and doubt, "South-Western Atlas, a little town on the peninsula that wasn't on any maps," She answered before giving me a look that was too complex for my underdeveloped social understanding, "You want to help me find her?" I nodded resolutely as my minimap began zooming northwards and an area was highlighted in white.

* * *

 **Companion Quest Received; [Three Scoops]!**

 _ **Companion Quests are optional quests that greatly affect the relationships between you and companions. Completing them are never easy, but it**_

 **-Little sister lost in the South-Western peninsula of Atlas. Start your search there.**

 **Rewards; Increased Relationship with Cosma Politan, ?, + 20 Free points, and 10000 exp.**

 **Failure; Death by dishonor.**

* * *

Grimly I nodded at the results of Failure, for I wouldn't settle for that. If it meant tearing apart a continent looking for a grave, I'd do it. I dismissed the notification and resolved to try to deal with it as soon as I was physically able.

I'd probably start the moment the siege ended.

Cosma gave me a look I could only describe as confused, "Why?"

"Anything for a friend, right?" I answered simply, and she gave me a weak smile as I quoted her words back to her face. It wasn't that simple, but I hadn't lied when I told Ashley that I'd do anything just to see someone smile, and that seemed to apply doubly so for someone that I thought deserved to smile. "I'll find her," I stated firmly, my lips set in a determined scowl, "or die trying. I promise," I finished with a nod.

No fancy words, no games to play or favors to garner. Just a simple promise, but it seemed to be enough.

The energy I had felt building dissipated as she looked at through teary eyes with a genuine smile, one laced with something approaching _awe_ , and I knew that I had made the right choice.

* * *

It was with a start that he awakened, laying at the top of the wall staring into the cloudy night sky. He had just been standing, hadn't he? He looked around and froze when he saw the prone form of his partner lying in a similar position, but surrounded by a pool of blood and a shadowy black humanoid crouched over him, gleaming knife in hand.

The Figure slithered towards him ethereally and raised his weapon to stab down, whispering out, " _Nothing personal, just businessssss._ "

It was only through the power of pure fear that had been coursing through him for the last two days that he was able to react as quickly as he did, landing a solid blow with his boot to the figure's head before scrambling for the Alarm switch. He slammed into the casing that surrounded it before he felt seven inches of Dust-Steel imbed itself in his back, piercing his shoddy Aura in a single strike and he collapsed on the case itself.

It was all he could do to keep a hold of the handle as his life left him and the figure tried to drag him to the floor, setting off the Alarm with a grim smile as the figure hissed and plunged the knife down one final time with a curse.

* * *

I gave Cosma my most friendly smile and moved to say something funny, but I was distracted by a notification popping in front of my eyes.

"No time for food," I told her as I began applying two more layers of **[Osteogenesis; Hardening]** over my bones in preparation, snarling as I crouched and flooded my legs with stamina, "Go back home and tell everyone to get ready. The party just arrived." Almost as if on queue, the klaxons began to blare and light up the nearly deserted town red in the night. I didn't wait for her response and launched towards the Gate to confirm what my hearing already told me; Gunfire and lots of it.

I landed on top of a house and looked down as guards continued to try to hold them off, but were quickly overwhelmed by sheer numbers alone.

Further back the defenses were holding, though the gate had been lost almost immediately. I growled and began to prepare for a battle. With a roar I launched myself towards the mass of Deserter Infantry that was pushing up the main road, letting the wind that whipped past my form unfurl my weapon behind me.

 **[Smackdown]** activated a crash as I landed and from my newly formed crater I activated every skill I had that was useful, bringing the melee to a standstill for a moment as the Debuffs activated before canceling each other out and my **[Night Vision]** Allowed me to see their forms in the lowlight as well as stopping me from being blinded by the muzzle flash in the stormy night. I unholstered my pistol, and with a wordless battlecry I shot forward into those that would endanger my friends like a missile of rage and fury.

 _Time to buy the others some time_ , I thought even as my health began to dip from the Gunfire that was focused on me, _Because they're gonna need it._

The Invasion of Sahili had begun.

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 23: 1775/2300 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 51295/51295 HP Regen: 1104 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1951/1951, Stm Regen: 79 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 8184/8184, Ap Regen: 205 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level; [856/945]; Natural Stress Relief; .9 per Minute.**

 **Str: (138) 148**

 **Dex: 47**

 **Con: (178) 189**

 **Agi: 9**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Cha: 1**

 **Res: 97**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 993**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 35877**

 **Pistol Atk: 296**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 322 Damage.**

 **Mag; 19 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** _ **you**_ **don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate an eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach];** _ **Hard heads Prevail!**_

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

* * *

 _Alright, time for a response._

 _N; 10/10, good detective work for the most part. Everything you got wrong is important and will be explained throughout the story, though it will not be that soon for some of it._

 _In general, if you have an issue with Austin's ability to figure out skills, look up the etymology of the word Analysis and remember that he is a master of tearing things apart, whether that be people or ideas._

 _Outside of that, I'd like to thank you for making it this far and remind you that reviews exist, and all that. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the characters that have been introduced so far, or even ideas on where the story is going. Who knows, you may inspire me to change what I have planned._

 _That's it this time, with this chapter being the last build-up chapter before the climax and thus more self-explanatory than others I have little to report._

 _Jericho Out._


	28. Level 2: Part 9

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _She looked up from the sleek Teapot as she replaced it on the stovetop, and turned towards the Living room and the individual who was there. She clinically noted the deep scratches in the new jacket, as well as the new scar that had appeared on the back of his hand some time after his forced removal from the Bullhead. She would have liked to say she was observing him out of concern or some other emotion that wouldn't make her feel as guilty as the sheer curiosity that filled her being._

 _The savage was an enigma, but unlike most people that peaked her curiosity it had very little to do with a facade or mysterious past, as the guy was almost incapable of lying and was extremely open with his past. If you asked, of course. He wasn't one to just start sharing for no reason or even for a reason, he was a man of the present. Almost entirely without time for the past or future._

 _He left those to her and Roman most of the time._

 _The mystery of the man wasn't even in his abnormal physiology, which while strange was apparently the result of some bizarre semblance. Compared to the ability to teleport or go invisible, the ability to heal continuously wasn't all that outlandish. Sure he could do all these crazy things without Aura, but she guessed it was some universal karmic balance that kept him killable._

 _No, the true mystery was his mind._

 _His eyes were the same Grimm-Red of their enemies and while they could easily hold the same energy or fury as the Grimm, when they looked at his friends they were happy or annoyed or any other human emotion. He never felt the need to hide it, nor was there any thought for the mood of the room he was in; if he was feeling something he was feeling it, no doubt about it. Actually, a lack of doubt was the correct way to describe it, as he never actually dealt in maybes. No half effort, and definitely no dragging his feet. He gave every emotion, every fight, every conversation his all or no effort at all._

 _It was an odd thing to witness, but the results spoke for themselves._

" _Why do you get so sick on Bullheads?" Ashley asked the seemingly random question as she stared at her partner, one of the most indomitable people she had ever had the privilege to meet. Sure, others had been more renowned or respected, some could boast more power, and most had been more skilled, but the young man had managed more in his short time on Remnant than almost anyone else she could think of, save people like General Ironwood who was a legend among men or Headmaster Ozpin who had once scared the entirety of the Valean Military into line. But Austin was the Monster on the Mount, someone who rose to challenges in ways that defied common sense and reason, persevered through lost limbs and setback after setback, and somehow obtained the respect of people like her step-father, her mother, and even Mister Hazel without trying through some bizarre twist of fate._

 _It made no sense._ ** _He_** _made no sense._

 _Abstractly, she knew that he was mortal, but sometimes it was just hard to remember it with all the nonsense that seemed to revolve around the man as though he were some demigod from myth brought to life. And as she sat in the lounge of the loaned SDC house, she distinctly remembered one of the only weaknesses the man had shown. So, as someone in the process of rationalizing something outside of her grasp, she seized on it, trying to bring down the image of the Wild-Man that she had in her head._

 _From his position lounging on the battered metal couch, splayed across it in a way as though to cover as much space as possible, his left eye opened and the Vibrant red made eye contact with her even through his obvious haze of relaxation. His grey and black hair, the gray she had learned came from a burn scar on his scalp that he couldn't remember how he had received, was wild about his head, and the long deep scar that was gouged into his right cheek seemed so dark in the bright industrial lights of the room. All in all, he was a marked man that looked like he had always been on the edge of a cruel death, but much like now as he looked at her he had probably smiled that same sharp-toothed smile through the pain and danger._

 _She wondered if it was a bad sign that she was no longer scared of that smile._

" _Funny story," he started with a snort as she moved into the room with a cup of tea and he leaned further into the creaking piece of furniture, "My ears work overtime, and are really bad with small things you'd probably never notice. So when I go up in the air, the pressure and the noise of the wind fucks with me and makes me_ _ **real**_ _nauseous."_

 _She gave him a look as she sat down in the seat across from his makeshift throne, "You launch yourself hundreds of feet into the air all the time, and you don't barf every time you do that. How is that any different?"_

" _Actually, I hate that shit just as much. When I used to skip around like a toddler all the time instead of running like a normal fuckin' person, I refused to go above twenty feet in the air, which is actually easier to do believe it or not. Gives me time to recover in the air," he shrugged his shoulders and moved to lean back into the couch, but Ashley latched upon the line of thought as she realized it was one of the longest conversations she had ever held with the man._

 _He was many things, but good at conversation wasn't one of them._

" _You said you went about a mile into the air when you were in Slurry, though. It didn't mess with you then," She pointed out clinically, and was pleased when he didn't just grunt in response. For a moment he narrowed his eyes at nothing and actually looked like he was_ _ **thinking**_ _about his response._

 _Progress._

" _It's hard to explain," He bit out, his eyes tracking invisible things that only he could see in front of his face as he tried to find his answer, "I hear people say shit about fightin', like how they mix up teammates for enemies or stay jumpy for hours after a fight, but I don't know what they're talkin' about. At all. I think clearer in a battle than anywhere else, and its not even a close thing," his eyes stayed off of hers, but mentally she was reeling as she realized that she was dealing with him at the most serious she'd ever seen him, but he pushed through before she could comment on it, "And I don't think I could tell you what it feels like. If I hadn't been dealing with it since I was a kid, I'd think I was crazy. I still kinda do."_

 _Ashley was transfixed by his stare, confused and serious now snarling at himself, but she simply gave him a small smile and took a sip of tea. "Could you try for me?"_

 _He nodded wearily as he fished for the words, but his gravelly voice spun a description that seemed to fill the room with an energy she couldn't place, "It's not just fighting, 'cause I can fight and not have the same clarity," He winced as some memory hit him but continued anyway, teetering on the edge of his ability to articulate, "It's when I_ _ **need**_ _to do something. Spars, I can lose because there ain't any shit to lose, but a real fight_ _ **will**_ _be won. There is no other option for me. The thought doesn't even show up. If I was losing badly, then I'd just label survivin' or runnin' away as a success and go from there. When that frame of mind hits me, my body responds faster, my eyes take in information at least twice as fast as normal, and my brain can deal with all that information without issue. The scariest part is that I can't feel Pain, it's ignored unless it's debilitating while I go_ _ **through**_ _anything in my way. Like that, my ears_ _ **cannot**_ _overload me, and I can do things that I could never do if I was practicing or just sitting around. And then when I'm done fighting, it shuts off and I'm back to being just... me."_

 _Ashley stared at him in dawning wonder, thoughts of what else he just didn't feel the need to share or thought was normal that she'd never extract from him. She'd never have guessed any of that happened to him, but the thought of something similar happening to her was…_ _ **exhilarating**_ _. She could imagine it, near perfect response of her body, never being blindsided in a fight, and never flinching in the face of danger. She blew out a breath as she contemplated the possibilities, "That's…" Amazing. Powerful. Unstoppable._

" _ **Terrifying**_ _," He filled in her blank with a growl, glaring at the ceiling._

" _How could you say that? If that's what happens in your head you could be the perfect Huntsman!" She said exasperatedly to her partner, but he simply frowned resolutely away from where she sat._

 _Leave it to him to squander such an opportunity._

 _He only grunted with finality and leaned back into the couch with his eyes closed, apparently content to leave her to her tea and thoughts._

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

My eyes shifted through the throng of people, picking apart what they wielded as weapons and deciding which ones I needed to prioritize as I leapt into the middle of the melee amidst bullets and Dust-Fire. I landed on a deserter's knee and let all of my weight land with me, vaporizing his aura and his kneecap as I brought him low before my right fist swept up and caught him under the jaw. I threw my left hand out and grinned as the hooked end wrapped around another's ankle before I dragged her towards me and headbutted her vicously.

I grabbed the unconscious woman by the front of her robe and hurled her into the storming ranks of terrorists before I launched about a hundred feet in the air before using **[Smackdown]** to clear the group of people out. I growled as I realized that I wasn't enough to actually stem the tide of people coming in through the hole, but decided that it was as good a choke point I was going to get, what with my own personal battery of Machine guns at my back and an infinite number of places that were worse for the operation.

I launched myself towards my prey, but was rebounded as I impacted a shield of Aura and before I could do anything other than get to my feet a wave of guns were drawn and pointed my way.

I held my arms in front of my face in a **[Block]** as a hail of bullets impacted upon my forearms and grit my teeth through the assault and watched my health dip steadily past thirty-five percent. I decided that now was a good time to get creative. When most of the burst ended I leapt to the left and threw my weapon out once more to drag another unwilling soldier towards me. For a moment I held him in between myself and the literal army as a shield, and once I had moved towards the battlement I activated **[Power Throw]** with a hundred points of Stamina and hurled the unfortunate man away with the force of a howitzer. I used the distraction to leap lightly on top of the makeshift battlement to observe.

About three steps away from the main force, the shield was erected once more and I could see one robed figure behind the front line of infantry with his hands raised, positively glowing white with Power, jolt as though struck when the body hit and crumpled upon the shield. A loud voice yelled out from behind the wall of soldiers, "Surrender! You won't get through my shield before the guns tear you apart!" The sounds of multiple rifles being reloaded assaulted my ears, and I noticed that the infantry had finally stopped funnelling through the gaps between the Main wall and the fighting, as I had successfully herded them back to the main gap by brutalizing the vanguard, though it seemed that they were intent on recovering the ground.

I returned my attention to the Robed Individual maintaining the shield and thought about how I'd have gone about their setup. Probably used the first wave of zealots as a smokescreen to setup a foothold, and with a mobile shield they probably plan on moving up slowly while they hide behind the wall. They were well organized and tightly packed together in a moving block as they walked slowly forwards through the gap in the wall. It looked like this group must have been at least five hundred strong before the start of this assault, now sitting at three hundred or so level fifteen deserters, all with a machine gun and a working Aura.

Lovely.

I narrowed my eyes at my quickly refilling health and grabbed the Assault rifle of the heavily breathing SDC trooper that was looking panicked to my left. I checked his magazine as I slid down to rest next to him and the gunfire started up once more, with the metal of the wall at our back vibrating constantly with concussions from all of the weapons of our enemies. I looked around and was glad to see that my initial repulsion of the Fang had given the SDC time to adequately man the makeshift walls, and I could see the Ammo depots being hauled to the bottom of the walls, with troopers piling magazines at the feet of those shooting over the top.

But all of that wouldn't have been necessary if the goddamned towers had done their jobs.

Irritated at their lack of input, I spread **[Instinct]** out past the continuous gunfire until I could hear the nearest battlements, hoping against hope that the Fang had simply managed to sneak up on us through some convoluted semblance, but instead found them deathly silent behind the klaxons and was forced to assume the worst; no machine gun nests. I hopped up and began peppering the wall of infantry, trying to focus bursts of Fire into people, but as I watched I could see the process they planned on using to gain the ground to the bulkheads. When auras began to look weak the shield would go up and people were quickly shuffled to the back of the pack to refresh while the fresh ones took their places, and with the shield they never had to stop moving.

That was the thing about giant groups of people with Aura, they didn't need Metal shields to form a phalanx, they could just use their bodies instead. And the bullshit Massive Army Covering shield of their Leader didn't help much either, the Barrier ethereally passing through clouds of gunsmoke without an issue as it loomed closer and closer like a warning to our coming defeat. _Like hell_. Irritatingly, I saw no noticeable dip in their numbers as I watched, though I did see them slowly marching over a few of their kin in their tightly knit grouping, so I knew that we had to be making _some_ progress.

The issue was that they were making more.

If only they didn't have that goddamned Shield, then they couldn't take the time to adequately sort themselves after a bout of firing.

I grunted as my health trickled back in until I was sitting over eighty percent and slapped the rifle back into the terrified Trooper's hands. He gave me a panicked look but I just clapped him on the shoulder before I hopped down from the Battlements on the SDC side and backed up. I looked up and tilted my head as I tried to guess where I needed to go, before shrugging and deciding that I'd wing it. I bunched my legs underneath me and filled them with Stamina before taking off, with a crater forming from the force of my leap. With every bit of my Stamina in a single jump I flew just under eight thousand feet into the air, punching through the snow-cloud cover with a wet slap.

As gravity began to overtake the force of my jump I began to channel my Aura, bringing it out until it was right under my skin just itching to be released, but I held it there instead as I prepared to use **[Second Wind]** extensively. I didn't need to worry too much about **[Osteogenesis]** as I was currently sitting at five stacks, which compounded to make my bones one of the hardest materials around. I was more concerned about my skin. I stared through the night sky as the skin stole the moisture of my eyes and skin as I fell towards the enemy in a death roll and approached terminal velocity.

I smirked through my bracing as I saw the Shield come up, and I impacted upon it with my Single most deadly skill, at least for big spaces, surpassing even **[Thundering Blows]** for damage output across an area. And as it began to activate I felt the air under and around me begin to follow my descent, the cone of air acting as a shield and weapon one in the same. As the world bent to me for even but a second I couldn't help the bloodthirsty smile that stole across my face as I fell towards my **prey**.

* * *

 **[Distance of [Power Jump]; 7824.]**

 **[Damage of [Smackdown]; Distance*10]**

 **[Area of [Smackdown]; Distance/95]**

 **[78240 Damage in an area of 82.34 feet]**

* * *

The air erupted as me and my column of icy cold air slammed down onto the massive Aura construct, the very air slamming through the Barrier, as it would have to be semi-permeable to let people inside breath and let the smoke from before waft out into the open air, flinging them to the ground and flattening them under the pressure of the attack. As the air smashed me down onto the top of the barrier my left side first, I turned to make eye contact with the white robed man that it was centered around. His robes flared around him and he began to bleed from the nose and eyes from the strain of holding the barrier against such an assault, and he gave me a vicious smile when the gale subsided. I raised my uninjured right hand in response and let my Aura erupt into the Steel colored maelstrom that was its normal state. His eyes widened and I let my wild and feral smile reappear in response to his justified fear.

Then with a rumbling laugh I slammed my crackling fist down into the Shield.

For a split second I thought my wisdom had managed to pull off a miracle and not fail for a minute straight before a wave made not of heat, but of light washed over me even as I closed my eyes against the force and felt myself being pushed away. I heard a sound like shattering glass as the explosion popped the shield like a bubble and sent me careening away from the site with a steaming stump where my hand was regrowing itself, tumbling end over end in a dizzying display as I tried and failed to gain control over my impromptu flight. I managed to straighten out, but as I looked straight ahead, the only thing I saw was a large imposing wall of granite before my sight went dark.

* * *

The sound of gunfire surrounded her as she impatiently waited by the door for the rest of her team, and did her best to still herself as she retightened the straps of her Gauntlets over and over again. Every fiber of her being wanted to be out there, holding the line with Austin and possibly the rest of Team ACRA, who had left immediately after Cosma had sprinted into the house with the sound of klaxons chasing behind her blaring about the absolute **worst** timed invasion in history.

Or best, if you were her enemy.

" **They're all dead** ," came the high pitched growls from up the stairs as her teammates descended, and Taylor avoided looking up at them because she knew that she would laugh if she did. She could already see the sleep-addled Emily stomping down towards her, probably in her nightclothes while white knuckling her spear. Instead of drawing her ire, Taylor simply stepped forwards and opened the door for her, and was unsurprised when the girl stomped past her in her fury without a word. Taylor counted it as a win, usually she'd get angry when someone opened the door for her.

Shebul walked calmly past and nodded at her in thanks, but she just motioned him onwards with haste as her Partner jumped the last of the steps, who looked as though he had gotten a full night's sleep from a fifteen minute nap, the lucky bastard. She followed after them and made sure to pace herself with them as they took off at a jog towards the Gap, as Luca began to hammer her with questions that she had no answers to. Just as she was beginning to enter Emily levels of annoyance, the sound of a loud explosion and a blast of air whipping them in the face, made them all stop and cover their faces from the dust that was brought with it.

Taylor blinked skyward as a pillar of grey light lit up the night in an explosion she was _intimately_ familiar with, and her eyes let her catch and track the speck that flew away from the epicenter. She followed it, not entirely sure what she was looking at, before it flew towards the quarry. The sound of reverberating metal followed its descent below the horizon, but she ignored it as she spied something more pressing.

She activated her semblance and knocked Luca to the ground just as a bullet the size of a can of soda crashed into the wall next to where his head had been not a moment before. She slapped a hand over her mouth as it began to erupt in a mist before kicking it through the wall and into the Building that it had hit. As her burst of Semblance brought her mind back down to normal she turned towards where attack had come from, and bared her teeth at the three individuals that waited on the rooftops for her.

In billowing black robes seemingly unarmed, stood the figure on the left who glowed in a kaleidoscope of hues as aura seemed to rise from his form like steam from a kettle. He shook his head and when he spoke it held a hint of resignation and sadness, "I didn't expect it to work, but I was still hoping it would," The airy tones of the Leader of the Mercenaries stated as he stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest.

The armored form of the Mercenary sniper fiddled with the barrel that was attached to the bottom of his gun and tsked behind his mask, whose glassy red stare was locked on her even as he shook his head. "Good job, and a very nice kick by the way, but I really wish you hadn't done that. Now we have to do this the annoying way."

And the form that was almost unrecognizable looked like a living shadow, blending into the blackened rooftops while draining his surroundings of colour, stayed still even as he spoke, "To be fair, I've been waiting for a good fight since we got here, and the Guards in the towers did very little to ease the feeling," The shadow of the third Mercenary nodded its head in their direction, "I hope you're ready to entertain."

"Traitors," Shebul stated as his aura began to subtly creep up his back, unbeknownst to the mercenaries. Taylor also began to channel her Aura in anticipation, and tried to think of some way out of this situation.

The armored one shrugged, "We were paid to start an invasion, and we delivered. As far as I'm concerned, I didn't say I was here to help you guys, that was him," he pointed at the robed leader to his right, who for his part jolted back in shock.

He pointed at himself, "Me?!" he exclaimed shrilly before placing his hands on his hips, "I didn't even want to do this job! I wanted to go hunt Nevermore in Mistral, where there isn't any **sand** or **giant scorpions** but _noooooo_ we gotta start a revolution. ' _Reedy, it'll be fun_ ,' you said," the man ranted as he paced around the rooftop as all six others watched him incredulously, "' _Think of how many books we could buy, Reedy_ ,' you said. ' _We won't even be there for the actual invasion_ ,' you said. Well guess what? **You were wrong**!" He shouted as his cohorts, who looked a tiny bit embarrassed as the armored one rubbed at his neck while the living shadow coughed into his hand and refused to make eye contact with his leader.

Luca was back on his feet and everyone had their weapons at the ready, no longer as easily taken off guard by their assailants, "You still lied to us," He stated imperiously as his fingers danced around his weapon waiting for any hostile action.

The robed figure drooped, "I know, I know, and I hated every minute of it. But I managed to convince Abbad that since you weren't SDC you didn't have to die, so at least I'm trying to do _something_ right," he rallied before pointing at his friends, "Kenny, for the love of the gods just _knock them out_ , and John, I'll buy you a pint for every person you knock out."

The sound of the bolt action rifle being reloaded echoed in the area, and the fairly jovial tone of the conversation evaporated as a professional tone came over the voices of the mercenaries, and the armored one pulled a revolver with a barrel over a foot long out of _somewhere_ under his leather duster and aimed it down at them, "Nothing personal, kid."

Her ears twitched as a small burst of air blew past and she was forced to activate her semblance to throw herself to the ground as the Shadow appeared behind her, and she managed to take the knock-out blow to the shoulder blade instead of the back of her head for the effort. The sound of thunder shook the area as the gunman on the roof began firing his hand-cannon down at them, and she lost track of the Shadow in that time. She turned around and barely managed to catch a knife on the grooves of her left cestus, and with a grunt keep it from her neck.

Then a toothy smile appeared from within the living abyss and a robotic voice spoke from within the cocoon of darkness, "Keep this up and I may even have some fun!" and then he was gone once more. As she continued to dodge and parry strikes that seemed to come at her from nowhere, she saw Emily lunge for the gunman, only to take a pistol whip to the top of her head for her trouble. Luca responded with a Blast of lightning, but the Robed leader raised his hand and with a sudden burst of aura it arced upwards away from its target. In his stupor at his attack being deflected in such an odd manner, he was unable to dodge the massive slug that hit him in the chest and sent him careening into the building behind him, breaking the wall down and letting a cloud of that grey mist from before billow out.

She moved as though to help before suddenly the shadow was back, and she was forced to use aura to protect herself from the strike before countering. And from the smile, it seemed that he knew that she was the only person in their group capable of out maneuvering the gunman without immense danger, and from the grunts of constipation and lack of bubble of terror, it looked like Shebul wasn't going to be a very good ace in the hole this night. An eruption of fire and light from closer to the headquarters also didn't spell great things.

It was all she could do to keep the living shadow's attention and try to think of way to divert him long enough to take out the gunman, not to mention figuring out and adapting to whatever the Leader was capable of as he jumped down into the fray. Hell, just getting away and regrouping, or even calling in reinforcements would be enough.

But, as she smacked away another strike that forced her further and further away from her Team, she didn't see that happening anytime soon.

* * *

Roman wasn't too concerned with the invasion, all things considered. Running away was always an option, though that wasn't the first option he was inclined to choose. Maybe his Leader and her partner were rubbing off on him, but he wanted to stop the bad guys because it was the right thing to do, which was an odd feeling for him. He had seen how people looked at people who seemed to be doing good things, and maybe he was shallow enough to admit that it looked like a good time.

And as he approached the Bulwarks that surrounded the Gap, his mind quickly and calmly began to pick out which plans were now unusable and which were still viable routes to victory. Gunfire and flashes of light in the night, people scrambling behind walls while projectiles hurtled past rubble and bullets alike, and officers shouting orders to Troopers as they ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. Much like Roman had thought, saying you were ready for a battle was much easier than actually being prepared and it showed.

"Anyone hear that whistling?" Cosma asked as she slapped her ear with an annoyed look on her face, and before Roman could sarcastically note the amount of noise in the active war zone, he too began to hear the same noise. He followed his ears upwards and noted that something was falling from the sky. Something with glowing red eyes that were impossible to miss against the cloudy sky, and with a fist reared back ready to strike.

"So that's what that looks like," he spoke out loud as he realized he didn't have all that much time to respond to the new information as the man came crashing downwards. The three civilized members of Team ACRA watched with their heads in their hands as their Wild-Man slammed down in his usual way to nearly flatten his enemies, before his fist slammed down. A pillar of Steel Aura shot sky high as the man was flung like a ragdoll away after having properly pierced the defenses of the enemy.

For a moment there was silence as the Fang clambered to their feet and made eye contact with the SDC troopers who looked just as surprised as them. Then an officer jumped onto the ramparts and screamed " _ **You yellow belly cowards, shoot 'em!**_ " before the fight was on once more. Roman watched in consternation as the Fang scattered under a hail of bullets, some charging forward under the protection of the Aura to engage in melee at the Bottleneck of the Ramparts and others running to hide behind pieces of metal and stone reduced to rubble to return fire.

But the thing was that this looked to be a force the same size, maybe a little larger sure, than the SDC Guards.

They had been promised an army at least three times that size.

"Something's wrong," Ashley spoke for him as she watched the same spectacle that he was, getting a feeling for what was happening, "That shield wouldn't have held up for nearly long enough to get past this defense, and they should've known that. The SDC could have replicated that much damage with Dust easily, which as they mine they have the stuff _in truckloads_. What are they **doing**?"

This wasn't a plan he would've though up, so he was almost as slow on the uptake as Austin would have been in the same discussion. Thankfully, Cosma was there to pick up his slack like usual. She stared down the road, hands gripping her weapon and eyes narrowed as the part of her mind that worked remarkably well, the part that she used to sabotage and get out of trouble, came to the forefront of her mind, "It's a distraction, it has to be. They have another way in, or are already in. They just needed to make a lot of noise to get time to set up," then she squinted ahead at the battle happening less than two hundred feet away, "Or their leaders are morons."

Roman nodded at the assessment, "Let's hope that's the case, but let's act like they know what they're doing," He murmured as he leaned against a nearby wall and tried to reason out what he'd do, but that was dependent on a piece of information he had been unable to figure out, "What does Sahili have that they want?" It's not Dust, there are mines scattered all across the Sands. It would be much easier to conquer a large number of small mines to gather Dust, not attack the largest Mine in the area.

Which brings up one of the other reasons that the General thought was a possibility for their targeting, that they were the largest SDC foothold in the sands, but it wasn't a secret that the SDC was spread across the sands. It wouldn't be sound strategy to go for the biggest threat first, when all of the other small threats could coalesce into an equally or even larger one. You'd take all of the small threats out, one by one, until only the large one remained.

"The CCT?" Cosma questioned as she stared up at the Tower with its blinking red beacon on top of the structure, "Corporal Grant said it was the biggest CCT on Sanus outside of Vacuo or Vale, so I feel like that could be a target." Roman thought about it, and while it didn't stand out to him as a giant target, he figured that it was one of the key features of the Town. At the very least it would be in his top two targets in the still in development town. His eyes narrowed as his mind drew him to the other key location.

"Ashley," He calmly asked as he stared down and to the west of the main road, "Do you know anything about the Refinery?"

She snorted as she thought of something, "Beyond the fact that Chief Ramsay hates that all of his Defense Budget went to building the thing instead of a functioning wall?" her smile froze before she sighed and tightened her belt around her sheathed weapons with a darkening frown, "Right, of course they'd go after the most expensive things. They're terrorists. If the SDC thinks its worth putting money into making, then they must think that its worth destroying. Why didn't I think of that? Keep our eyes on your Scrolls, and Message me if you see anything concerning at the Refinery, I'll take the CCT. Keep an eye out for anyone that looks even slightly suspicious, which includes Austin. Understood?" Roman and Cosma nodded as they grabbed their weapons and began to move towards their designated location at a cautious walk.

He quickly began sorting through all the preparations and projections he had made before cursing as he realized that he was running on incomplete data to begin with, "Great. Making things up on the fly. _That's_ what I'm known for," Not countless hours spent planning for possibility or anything that was anything further form improvising. He could only sigh.

"Well, good thing for you," His partner coyly said as they moved towards their destination, "It _is_ what _I'm_ known for," He watched as she began to shove fuses into a block of Dust infused putty before focusing on

At least he had gotten Grant to implement one of his plans in time.

* * *

It was after a few moments of darkness and struggling that I realized that I had not been knocked out, but instead my head was stuck in something. The stone was so close to my face that when I tried to use **[Night-Vision; Half-Grimm]** the stone poked me in the face and disrupted the technique before it could even activate. I slapped fruitlessly at the area around my neck, I only felt the cold chill of Stone under my fingers, and with a growl began trying to think about how to remove myself from the situation, which would have been easier had my head not have been filled with sounds other than my thoughts.

"Laugh it up, furball," I growled into the tight confines of my prison, my own voice reverberating back to me with a tinny quality even as my tenant's howls of laughter echoed inside my head, "If my head is stuck in here, then so are you." I pulled up my **[Skills]** page and began going through it, looking for something that could possibly work without making my predicament worse. **[Thundering Blows]** was out, as one particularly annoying part of having a relatively low Dex was that I couldn't quite put in just one Stamina into a physical skill. I blinked as two notifications popped in front of my face.

* * *

 _ **Actions of Party Members have updated the Quest!**_

 **Quest updated; [Defense of Sahili!]**

 _ **Fulfill your promise, and defend your friends.**_

 **-Repel the invaders!**

 **[New]-Ensure the Safety of important structures.**

 **Rewards; +1500 exp, + 5 Free Points, and 1 Perk Points.**

 **Failure; Death before Dishonor,** _ **Failure is not an option**_ **.**

* * *

I swatted the notification away before looking at the message from Fenrir.

* * *

 **[Actually, its because your Dex is so low in comparison to your overall Stamina pool that that happens. Nothing is supposed to exist at your size with such a disparity, so you have the finesse of something [Titanic] when you need to act like a [Medium] sized creature. The closer you get to a 1:1 ratio between Dex and Stamina the easier it is to control.**

* * *

And for it to act like I was a **[Titanic]** sized creature I'd have to be some version of fucked up. I quickly did the math and realized that I was sitting at a 1:42 ratio on a good day, which was probably why it was that fucked up. But still, I couldn't even think of a reason for why I was so out of proportion on this one, as the 1:1 ratio would barely be possible if I put a point in con every ten points in Dex. Irritated, I asked my furry compatriot, "What's the Normal human **Con** and **Stamina** supposed to be?"

* * *

 **[Human Constitutions vary in the range of about 1 to 50, with some freaks hitting the high eighties. And the normal equation for a Human's Stamina is Con*4, with the occasional monster of a man having Con*7. Much in the same way that their normal Aura calculation is ((Int*10)+(Res*7))*Level, and yours is literal shit in comparison, it is just another way that being [Half-Grimm] has changed you.]**

* * *

So, I had the Stamina of a Grimm, as well as the horrible control of one. I guess it made a certain amount of sense, what with most people gaining health under the **Game** mostly by level as it stood, their Dex would easily keep up and possibly outpace their Stamina. Their bodies weren't built to go for as long as mine, and it showed. " _Stupid fucking game balances,_ " I growled in irritation, before holding my breath and counting to reign in my temper, knowing that it would pass, and focused instead on the relevant information.

With such shitty control even sparse use could bring the rest of the Rock down on my head.

 _Beautiful_.

I only really had the one Damage dealing **Skill** to begin with, so it wasn't like I was swimming in options here. The only other option was **[Shatter]** , the aura based skill that was more likely to explode than do what I wanted it to. I growled into my stone sarcophagus even as the sounds of violence intensified outside of it, and stuck my fingers into the hole I had entered, only to find Debris from my impact had filled the hole and had been crushed into place by other falling rocks.

Out of options, I braced my arms and legs against the wall of stone, and **pushed**. For a moment I thought that I was going to pop free, before I felt the skin around my neck pinch harder and threaten to crush my head as the rocks began to resettle. I stopped pumping Stamina into my arms and decided that **[Shatter]** was going to have to pull its weight, or I was going to have to dig at the stone with my fingers.

Gingerly, I moved my newly regrown right hand as far away from my body and laid it flat against the stone, before asking for the guidance of whatever gods were listening and pumping the absolute smallest portions of Aura I could into the extremity. Immediately, the Granite fractured and exploded out of the way, leaving about a fist sized hole in the stone. I smiled victoriously as my Res swiftly refilled the Two hundred or so Aura I had spent on the technique before placing both of my hands about six inches away from my neck and detonating the stone.

I repeated the process until I had carved a circle in the stone around my head, and then I started once more, still careful not to accidentally explode my head. For a few minutes, I wrangled my Aura into destroying the things that I wanted it to, and stopping it from destroying that which I didn't want it to. Before I knew it, the only thing that attached my own makeshift stone helmet to the shelf of Granite was a piece of rock about the size of my wrist, and I laid my hand on it and activated my **Skill** one last time.

As the rock disappeared under my fingers and gravity took hold, I became intimately aware of the fact that I had no idea how close to the ground I was. I roared my defiance against my traitorous gods and laughing monsters as I fell like a stone, blind and unable to orient or catch myself as I fell.

With a crash I landed head first, in a maneuver that cost me almost forty percent of my health as my neck threatened to break from the impact. Only my six layers of **[Osteogenesis; Hardening]** saved me from death. I pulled myself from the remnants of the portion of Wall I had just had clenched to my head, and tried in vain to shake the sound of a ringing bell from my ears before stumbling around the Quarry I had found myself in blinking as my eyes adjusted to the light, and I ignored the Notification that scrolled across the bottom of my HUD.

* * *

 **[Concussion: Second Grade] Status Effect Added!**

* * *

"What a comedy act," said someone from nearby, and I turned my spinning vision towards them in response. I found three of the Mine workers standing casually with their picks as though they had just returned from work, all looking at me in obvious curiosity.

Shaking my head one last time I focused in on the one the middle as **[Instinct]** began to spread further out and paint me a picture of my surroundings, before I turned to look at where I had obviously fallen from, as the rest of the Granite shelf was unblemished smooth stone all the way up and down.

It was a good hundred feet up the shelf.

"Yeah," I spoke as I scratched at the back of my neck, returning to look at the workers who were watching me, "I guess that would look pretty funny if the guy didn't die."

The one in the middle snorted at me, and as I stilled the Active use of **[Instinct]** kicked in and my range spread even further, and I found something… Odd. Narrowing my eyes I looked at the "Workers" that I was talking to. And then my eyes sought out their **Nametag**.

 **[Francisco Andreas]**

 **[Level 12 Deserter]**

 **[Charming Smile]**

My thoughts must have shown on my face as I made eye contact with them because with barely any hesitation they stepped to me with their weapons, and calls to a savior that wouldn't save them from me. I stepped into the first ones swing and caught him by the armpit. He had a moment to look surprised before I turned and swung him like his own weapon down into the hard stone I had moments ago just landed upon hard enough to leave a crater.

I swept up from my crouch into the guard of the next even as he began to lose heart, and grabbed him by the face and **squeezed**. The felt his eyes bulge out of their sockets as his Aura splintered in a cacophony of sound and then the pressure hit the crown of his skull, knocking him out like a light as that in turn pinched his brain.

I dropped him and turned towards the last of the three as he stood his a shaking grip on his weapon and he stared me down. I gave him a look, and gestured for him to come to me, less because I was cocky and more because I was still having trouble seeing straight from my Concussion. He returned my look with a gaze of fear, before he rallied and his Aura began building itself into a set of armor before my very eyes. He held his weapon before him and roared a battlecry of " **For the Loach!** " before he ran at me.

I met his swing with my right fist, snapping the handle of his weapon and the hand holding it through his Aura simply from the Pressure of the **[Thundering Blow]**. My left fist shot out and connected with his chest in a solid straight punch. And to be completely honest, I was impressed with the strength of his Aura. If could have probably tanked a mortar shot if it came down to it.

It was just unfortunate for him that I hit _harder_ than a Mortar.

With a dull crash he was sent flopping backwards behind me, and I pulled my scroll out of my Pocket to call in the fact that about a third of the Worker force was sitting dead or stripped naked at the bottom of the mines, and I was the _least_ qualified person to be in an underground mine filled to the brim with explosives.

But as I began to dial in for Taylor's Scroll I was interrupted by my scroll ringing and vibrating incessantly, to the point that I almost dropped the phone, and a connection overriding what I was doing with the words _Emergency Broadcast._ They were followed by a video feed that was Black, but it was quickly replaced by an image of what looked to be the CCT Office, including a few SDC officers within sight.

All bloodied and bound in rope.

Sitting in the midst of all of them was a robed figure on a chair, sitting imperiously in front of the camera as though he could think of no better place to be. From under the Hood of the robe I could only see the hint of teeth that I knew were smiling a smug smile.

"Hello denizens of Sahili," The figure spoke suavely, in a way that made me want to throw my phone away in disgust. He sounded like he thought he was hot shit, and that other people told him the same thing. A way of speaking I had never gotten used to. "We are in your Base, and have already taken over the CCT. We've already won."

"H-heh," rasped the Deserter that had survived mostly unscathed from two of my attacks from where he was struggling to sit up, "The Savior always wins," He spoke with an assurance that would have given most people pause, but instead only fueled my fire.

Someone knew something about my enemy that I didn't.

That would not stand.

I threw my Scroll to the side to bounce upon the rock even as the so-called savior continued in what I was sure was some pretentious monologue about his inevitable victory and stepped towards the Faunus sitting on the ground. I stomped my Booted foot into his left knee and snarled at him when he yelled out in pain, and felt my **[Intimidation]** **Skill** activate as I grabbed him by the chin and dragged him towards my face, so that he was face to face with me. "What makes you so sure of that?" I growled into his face, and tightened my grip around his face to the point that I felt his jaw begin to break as he began to blubber, " _And that wasn't a rhetorical question._ _ **Tell Me**_. _**Or I peel your dick like a banana**_."

This was no time to cry or try to stall me.

I had a war to win.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 23: 1775/2300 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 52271/52271 HP Regen: 1124 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 1989/1989, Stm Regen: 81 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 9016/9016, Ap Regen: 225 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level; [206/945]; Natural Stress Relief; .9 per Minute.**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (138) 148**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 47**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (178) 189**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 9**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 97**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 1008**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 37120**

 **Pistol Atk: 298**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 322 Damage.**

 **Mag; 19 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** _ **you**_ **don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved. Stacks.**

 **[Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate an eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach];** _ **Hard heads Prevail!**_

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base for the check instead.**

 **[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.5+50) to (Str*3.75+50).**

* * *

 _What a Chapter to Write. Oof. Don't worry, the amount of characters introduced in the near future is very low for an almost entirely OC based story. But in terms of this chapter, I hate that I couldn't fit the actual climax of the arc into this, but I had to adequately explain what everyone was doing during the Invasion, which took up most of the Chapter._

 _As a side note, I'd like to point out that this is definitely an AU story (As though that weren't obvious by now, as I've been taking creative liberties for almost the entire story) and I plan on exploding some of the narrative choices of RWBY lore, but I'll be trying to make the changes as consistent and basic as possible. Semblances are kind of hax to begin with, but I'll be giving people some pretty incredible abilities, to the point that it would threaten the already pretty broken characters of the Main Canon Plot of RWBY as they stand if it got too far out of hand._

 _All in all, as I said before, I'm going to tone down some of the more serious stuff after this arc is done (two chapters) and try to focus on keeping the story fun along with keeping it meaningful in someway. I want to make The characters relatable, even if they are capable of extremely superhuman feats._

 _Anyways. Thanks for reading this far, and as always leave a review on the way out if you have an issue with the story or even just want to say hello._

 _Jericho Out._


	29. Level 2: Part 10

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _Tired and dull green eyes looked down at the Boy, Whelp, that was following her even deeper into the mountains. As ever he followed without much of a reaction to the change of routine or her orders, something that still unnerved her about the Eight year old even after years of raising him. The kid had some kind of issue, one that she couldn't even fathom._

 _One that she hoped to break him of with this trip into the mountains to perform a rather personal rite passed down from her mother to her._

 _She watched as he struggled up the snow and ice covered incline, carrying both of their packs in some odd attempt to grow stronger, before growling in a guttural manner that had made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end the first time he did it. She tried to break him of it, and taught him some vulgar words to use when he was irritated instead, but it seemed that the noise was an instinctual habit and not so easily broken._

 _Only adapted._

 _" **Butt-fucking snow,** " he rumbled into the hill as he pulled on the sturdy root in his hands to reach the level ground she stood on, in the process dragging his face through the snowy ground like a plow in a sight that made her smile and in the back of her head concerned as well. Seeing him do things like that without regard to his skin, which she could already see his already rough and calloused hands split open by the cold, or his face reminded him of his problem._

 _He scrambled up to his feet and then smiled his frightening attempt at a smile at her, and waited for her to lead on. She sighed and turned around to continue to follow the natural trail over the mountain pass, shaking her head at the young man following her, as he always did._

 _The kid just had no sense of self. Anything she told him to do, he did. And if she didn't tell him to do something, then he would do nothing. At most she could expect him to feed himself and train in the field behind the Huntsman Corps Building. Nothing else. He had no friends to occupy his time with, no group to form his identity around._

 _But by the Brothers, if he even thought that he needed to do something for her he'd do it in a heartbeat, often times without regard for his own safety or ability to do something. And while he sometimes came out of it injured or almost maimed, he'd only smile his smile as though he didn't care. As if he'd done something good, almost getting himself killed for her._

 _She noticed the frozen trees thinning out a bit and soon found herself staring off a cliff into the setting sun, with rays of light shimmering through the crisp cold air before their eyes. Or her eyes, as Austin simply looked at it once before turning to observe the trees for unseen eyes. She nodded to herself as she looked about the small clearing before turning to her ward, "This should work. Help me start a fire," she barked at him, and he only nodded in response before setting down his bag and getting out their tinder set._

 _After a few minutes they a nice little fire burning cheerily into the deepening night. She sat on one side of the fire, eyes on the smoke that drifted lazily into the air, while he was sitting across from her staring straight ahead into the fire where it burnt. She waited for him to start a conversation, but as ever he was content to sit in silence like a statue, only moving to breathe or piss. She could only imagine what thoughts ran through his head, for even he seemed to have trouble describing them. But she what they were about, and that was enough to keep her concerned for him._

 _And anything unlucky enough to catch his attention._

 _She reached down into her pack, the one she had packed specifically for this trip, and pulled out a few of the green leaves that were in a small container before throwing them into the fire, content to see that the smoke turned a rosy red as they began to burn. A pleasant smell, the smell of a home long gone, began to fill the area as the smoke began to churn heavier with more red smoke._

 _Still, the young man watched without a thought, only quirking an eyebrow at her as she through a second batch of leaves that turned the smoke a deep purple. She zipped her pack back up and brushed off the residue on her hands before it soaked in. Once more a smell erupted from the fire, this one of pies and feasts and people long since dead. If she squinted hard enough into the smoke, she was sure that she could see their faces smiling at her from beyond._

 _"I have never spoken to you about our family," She spoke aloud, not a question, but a statement, before her eyes fell from the bubbling and roiling smoke to her charge, "Nor have you asked."_

 _He shrugged his shoulders, "You'd tell me if it was important." Simple, to the point, and with sound logic. Frustrating._

 _"Yes. They were a large family, nearly wiped out and scattered some hundred years ago," One hundred and seventy three, to be exact, "But they were a large clan of people. When someone wanted to join, there was a… Ritual. Performed to bind them in spirit to the family, like those born into the clan's blood already did. We're here to perform it," She explained to him, and he made a face of understanding and nodded along with her words._

 _"What do I need to do?" He questioned her simply, those Grimm-Red eyes staring into her, the single minded determination to complete whatever task he had been given suddenly shining through. The zeal would've been pride inspiring, had it been any choice of his own to do so._

 _"Answer some questions, repeat some words, maybe a little blood," She answered seriously, sighing deeply as she began to pull from her Mother's Memories for the exact order of events for this. Not that it mattered, there was no more family for the Magic to bind him to. "What is your name, your true name?"_

 _"Austin," he answered simply, and the fire crackled happily in response to his answer. If she listened closely, she could hear the voices in her memories, or rather memories she had taken from family members upon their deathbeds lifetimes ago. They were saying his name, chanting it in their old accent, the one she had accidentally passed on a bit of to her charge. They bubbled happily, having seen no new faces for such a long time._

 _"What are you?" She asked, not sure of the answer herself. This was why she had brought him out here all this way, to make him answer this question. She watched him look up at her, but it wasn't a question she could answer so she said nothing. A minute passed, and the voices in the smoke began chattering, no doubt trying to tell him what they thought he was, what he looked like._

 _Child, said some. Fighter, said others. Grandson, said her Father._

 _Weak, said her Mother._

 _Minutes passed in silence as the wood of the fire burned and crackled. Ashes jumped up and floated away with the wind. The woods began to make sounds again as they sat there in silence, as he grappled with the question, and her heart ached for the kid. This wasn't a question that would be answered lightly, and the herbs she had thrown in wouldn't let him lie._

 _'Come on,' she thought internally, 'Choose something, something I can help you become.'_

 _And still he sat, his eyes now dull as he thought, the herbs drawing him into his head to find his answer. And so she sat with him in silence as he found his answer. After thirty minutes spent trying to find familiar faces in the smoke, she noticed that a stray tear made its way down from his eye, and his face was no longer placid as he stared at the fire. His hands were gripped in front of his face as though in prayer, and it looked like he was staring the Younger Brother himself in the Face._

 _His mouth opened and made to make noise, before a snarl overtook his features. She leaned back in her chair at the turn of events, for even after going through this ritual at least a hundred times and with the memories of nearly a thousand more, she had never seen someone react to it like this. His mouth creaked open, and his right hand strained to keep the left, his dominant hand, in its grasp. Every tendon in his neck was visible as his face began to turn red and his eyes began to turn bloodshot. Somehow through the haze of the herb and their magical hold on his mind, he turned ever so slowly towards her and made eye contact, as though he could see her. His mouth slowly ground shut and she was faced with one of the fiercest expressions she had ever seen._

 _Through clenched teeth, he spoke in harsh words, clipped and broken Common as it looked like he fought against the hold on him, " **They're. Wrong,** " He grit out as his eye began to twitch and her eyebrows climbed higher towards her hairline. No one, in her memory at least, had ever defied the ritual. Most she had seen had been saddened by whatever they saw, but called themselves good people, or proud warriors. But some had called themselves cowards, others murderers, and even more worthless. And they had been sent away, the ritual forcing them to come clean._

 _She knew that the young man in front of her was one of the resilient beings in existence, simply from the fact that he was disobeying the effects of Ritual through pure strength of mind alone._

 _" **I'm. No. Monster,** " He nearly roared as the chair began to shake underneath him, but she could only frown at him as he began to try to buck the force of the spell like a physical force. He threw himself towards the Fire and the pillar of Smoke that was now Chirping angrily at him for daring to disobey their call. Their judgement. He pushed himself up and stared into it with a fierce expression, now nearly breaking the pull that they had over him to begin with and speaking freely, " **I protect, that's all I've ever done,** " he yelled hoarsely at her ancestors leaving her to stare openly at the display, " **Destroy what would hurt mine. That's how I Protect,** " He Roared in defiance as he staggered to his feet, "You call me a monster for doing what I was told? What was right? What gives you.. The… **Balls...** " And just as suddenly as his feat of willpower had brought him surging up against the magic that held him, it came to a close as he dropped back into the chair in a dead faint, toppling it over and crushing it under his bulk._

 _The smoke went silent as the magic left the clearing, and the colors eventually faded as well, but she could only stare in disbelief at the child, with sadness threatening to overcome her old mind. He thought they were condemning him, that they were afraid or disgusted by him, and labeled him in anger._

 _That's not what the Ritual did. It made you tell the truth, the whole truth, about who you were._

 _Or more accurately, who you thought you were._

 _She could only sigh and finish the ritual to the best of her ability, "I welcome Austin to the Staín Family. From this day forth, you are known as Austin Staín, Protector... Against Monsters," Apparently. She looked over at the unconscious body, and with one final sigh at the amount of work ahead of her, "May you serve the family Faithfully."_

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

"Hello denizens of Sahili," Abbad spoke suavely, in a way that made him want to break his arm patting himself on the back. He sounded exactly how he wanted, like a self-assured conqueror already in the midst of his victory. A way of speaking he had practiced for the last three years for this exact moment. "We are in your Base, and have already taken over the CCT. We've already won."

He waited a moment for his words to take effect, judging by the swell of loyalty flowing in through his semblance, and then continued on when it seemed that he would not be able to wring out any more effect from the one line before delivering the next one. It was an odd performance piece to be sure, sat in a makeshift throne with the most attractive and high ranking officials he had captured on his way to the CCT laying at his feet, bound and bloody, in a show of dominance. He had spent months scouring ruins and temples lost in the woods and sands of Sanus looking for imagery associated with the tale of the Loach, and now struck true upon the same imagery as hard as he could. Anything to sell the performance to the audience, after all.

Behind the Cameras were his CCT trained staff turned Fang members, having been lifted from various outposts from all around the Sands or planted to be trained explicitly for this day. They were professionals who had prepped him and made sure it was to his vision, and a part of him was laughing at the seemingly tangential association between studio aides and The White Fang, but hey the visual was important. Nothing but the best for his Moment of Glory, after all.

He slowly raised his hand and signalled to his guards from their place a few steps off screen, where they stood with his most useful tool was standing with a smug smile on his face, and his SDC uniform professionally pressed. They made their way to stand before him, and turned to face the Camera, "This is the man who betrayed you for my promises of riches, Commander Nehrut Avi. A round of applause for the man of the hour," He said, and those in the studio gave the man a patronizing smattering of claps, and as the vain man preened under the sudden attention his guards moved to their positions behind him and with their gleaming golden, and almost entirely ornamental, spears pierced his back in a shower of blood. One which he was happy to see had managed to miss the cameras, which would've been a hit or miss effect on the broadcast. "Unfortunately, he has proven himself a traitor, and I cannot risk him betraying me in turn. But fear not, my friends, for there is hope for you! Either bow down to my cause in the next thirty minutes for my protection," he spoke with a smile that he hoped shone out from under his Hood before he pointed at the body of the man being lifted off to the side of the screen, with its gruesome look of horror covered in blood and his smirk turned cold, "And if you lie to me about your loyalties, you'll end up like the good Commander here."

He waited for a moment, "And after those thirty minutes are up, We'll blow the Refinery and let the Brothers sort the rest of you out," He spread his hands wide, but was interrupted by one of the Officers at his feet, a portly looking man who resolutely stared up at him with unyielding eyes.

"You'll kill us all, your men included," he pointed out tiredly, and Abbad gave him a swift kick to the chin, laying him out flat and stared down at the man who dared to speak out.

"Our Faith shall shield us, for those that believe I shall save them, shall be saved," He raised his arms and he saw the effect of his glorious wings manifesting behind him. He felt the cloth of his robes tear as the aura constructs that labelled him as the Loach appeared in a burst of golden aura, "For I stand above all men, and I shall bring them to glory or death!"

He watched out of the corner of his eye as one of the men at the Control panel counted down on his fingers from three before reaching zero and the red light went out from the camera, and he stood from the uncomfortable chair with a stretch and a smile. He stepped on the downed man and let his wings fall to his chest, appearing for all as but a shiny shawl of golden light emblazoned over his ruined robes.

"Abbad," called one of the men throwing down the Boom Mic he was holding, "Was it successful?"

"Of course it was," he returned with a cruel smile and felt the number of people loyal to him steadily begin climbing higher and begin to surpass the amount he had before the invasion. "I'll have those hairless apes in the mines by midnight, and they'll be thanking me for my mercy."

And why shouldn't they, for he truly was merciful.

Enough to give them the choice between death or to live and suffer, at least.

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

Amber eyes stared down on the rather… cheery looking Guards that were standing outside of the CCT. They were rather excited and seemingly lax in their guard, talking with one another and seeing no issues with the few people that were coming in and out of the Tower. Even if she hadn't received the Broadcast a moment ago, she would've recognized how out of place the Terrorists looked in the SDC Uniforms holding not standard weapons, rumpled and without any military precision that the Backwater Guards of Sahili tried to mimic.

She could see the two man patrol dipping down below the horizon of the incline that the Tower sat upon as they descended down the road West towards the rest of Sahili, and she could see the three vehicles that the SDC kept on hand for the CCT Engineers to go out and do maintenance with had their tires slashed and were dead in their parking spots, courtesy of their company. She looked around and was glad that the Tower was situated in a cutout of the Mountain, with a cliff face surrounding two-thirds of the perimeter. It made people think that those directions didn't need to be watched.

She looked back over her shoulder to the Rope that was swinging in the icy breeze, before sending off a brief prayer of thanks to whatever gods were watching over her. And she believed that honestly, with all her heart. There was no other way that she could think of to explain how she always got out these situations alive. She shook the thoughts from her head and refocused on her task with fervor.

From her position behind the Electrical substation, she was able to see it all, and their general disorder and lack of familiarity with the place let her observe without any hiccups. Unfortunately, the use of her semblance came with light and attention, so she was forced to grin and bear the light snow and the annoying cold that came with it as she worked. She was beginning to regret not wearing a heavier jacket like everyone else in her team.

And as she peeked her back around the substation to make sure she was still in the clear, she decided that she'd put in effort to not become complacent like her enemies looked to be. She twisted the last wire with a grimace as the current arced through her Aura to zap her, but the deed was done. She sent a message to Roman to let him know that she had managed to pull it off before slipping her Scroll into the Door of the Substation to act as a transceiver and closed it.

She crept back the way she came into the darkness of a crack in the rock, smiling when the Lights began to dim around the area. Not that it mattered for her ability to stay undetected, as they were up against Faunus, but it would serve a purpose. She heard the lousy guards at the front of the building notice and someone taking charge to scour the area for whatever was causing it, before the lights began flickering back to full power and then powering all the way off. She covered her eyes as the plan began to take effect and the Faunus began panicking as they looked about the place.

She listened as the Motors that adjusted the direction and angles of the Lights on their poles moved them ever so slowly into position, before they exploded on at maximum intensity.

These weren't your regular streetlights either, these were industrial grade and made to be seen through Massive blizzards and hurricanes. It was bright for her, hunkered down with her arms in front of her Human eyes. She could only imagine what it felt like for the Faunus with permanent night vision who had just gotten used to the dark.

But she knew what it sounded like as it hit them, as they all hit the floor and began screaming in pain. She rocketed from her position as one Faunus in particular began spraying wildly, assuming rather correctly that he was under attack, and grimaced as she took two bullets directly to her Aura. She sprinted past them, and used the sounds of Gunfire as a cover for her passing. She slammed into a guard who had been separated in the hysteria and put all of the force of her charge into slamming the hilt of her Twin swords into his temple.

He dropped like a sack of flour.

She turned with her weapons now fully drawn and flickering with her semblance's power, Before unleashing waves of fire into the blinded crowd of people. As they began screaming at the sudden onslaught she jumped into the fire, unconcerned with the heat or flames, and began hacking and slashing at them until they all fell. Only once the clearing was mostly silent, save for the sounds of fire crackling against the moisture of the slowly falling snow, did she let her control of it go, with the soul-fire burning out quickly upon the pavement. She held her weapons defensively in front of her and turned towards the front of the CCT as someone began clapping.

"Bravo," congratulated the figure with a mocking quality to his words, even as he descended the small set of stairs down from the entrance of the building, "Masterfully Done. You took out a group of guards without much difficulty. Excellent use of your surroundings, powerful semblance, and some modicum of ability with your weapons," His smile was a slimy thing to behold, suddenly transforming from friendly to deadly as he stared at her, "If you weren't a Human I might have even been impressed."

She held her weapons in front of her as he stepped forwards, and as he got closer she took the small bit of time to observe him closely. A few inches taller than her, lithe but strong build, under tattered robes a set of lightweight armor, and a golden Aura Construct that hung off of his shoulders. Decidedly the most dangerous part of him, without even fighting him. Keeping up any construct required Aura and Deciding to prolong the fight to catch her breath from the rather sudden burst of violence against the guards, she responded, "If you think Faunus are better than Humans, shouldn't you be impressed that a Human took them down at all?"

He smiled at her cruelly, with eyes that seemed to say that she was but a toddler that he was humoring, "If you had taken them on fairly, maybe. But as it stands, it just proves that the only thing Humans are better at is playing dirty and being their treacherous little selfs," He stated clinically, with all the belief in the world behind his words. Then he flexed his arms and neck as he stepped forwards and the Construct about his neck came to life, unfurling a set of wings that had to be almost thirty feet long in wingspan. He stretched them high in their glory, and pulled off the remains of his robes as the diamonds of focused Aura shimmered before smiling suavely at her, "But I meant what I said before. Surrender now, and I can guarantee that you'll live."

She shook her head as her Semblance began to power up, the fiery aura surrounding her body even as she regretted the lack of information that they had on their enemies. Here she was, stood before a man she knew nothing about and just winging it. It honestly disgusted her, but what was she to do? When the world tears apart your plans you must adapt or drown. There was no other way forward. Out loud she spoke her mind, "No tyranny for me thanks. I have a thing about that."

"You'd call me a Tyrant?" he retorted as he closed the distance slowly, "For trying to do my best to free my brethren?" When he was within swinging range he reared back like he was going to punch her, and as she watched the Wing on the same side of his body mimicked the action. She flooded her legs with Aura and jumped backwards as the Cleaver of light swiped through where she was standing, slicing through the pavement like it wasn't even there.

Narrowing her eyes at him and matching his pace as he advanced, she waited for him to gloat, to talk down to her further, or even just explain what he was going to do to her. But he had as much said it before; surrender or die. She rolled forward as he lunged once more, passing under the left Wing and coming up in a slash that should have gutted him, or the very least taken him off guard. Instead the blow was turned aside and she was forced to retreat as his knee came up and threatened to crack her nose.

"Beautiful isn't it," He spoke merrily, like he wasn't in a life or death match, "My Aura. My semblance. I have so much of the stuff I can make these wings and keep up a shield that covers my entire body," He slashed once more, and she was forced to fall back with a wave of fire to keep him from gaining even more ground, but he simply walked through it without resistance as his Aura maintained a golden hue around his body. "Hot? yes. Painful? Not really. You're going to have to try harder than that to beat me."

His eyes, like black coals that stared out from under a wild mop of black hair stared down at her, and she could see the mania, the craziness that lay underneath his words. She wondered if he could even see it, or if he was too far gone. He spread his arms wide, and with the backdrop of her own fire he certainly had the image of a tyrant down. "All of this for your brethren? Sure it isn't just for you?" She sniped as she once again dodged back from his descending wings, this time landing on the destroyed maintenance vans and charging up a more concentrated attack for her enemy.

"One and the same," He said as he dashed forwards and rent the vehicle in two, before covering his face first with his arms and then his wings as they followed to take the Beam of red light and red Dust to his shield. His voice came out from the Smoke that covered the area, "For all that they are, I give them. And, in time, All of that they give back. For I am their conqueror, their Warrior, Their Savior."

Already moving away she thought that she was prepared when he swept forwards from the cloud of dust and smoke, but she wasn't ready for the speed of the advance as one of his wings caught her in a backhand that sent her careening towards the electrical station. She stood, and grimaced at the amount of damage that had managed to bleed through on even one hit, but stood tall despite it. Even if she was having trouble moving her left hand.

For all that he seemed to know that he was in control of the fight, he seemed content to drag it out, to play with his food. He smiled smugly at her, like beating up what was essentially a high schooler was an achievement to be proud of, and continued to gloat, "This is why you should bow down and submit. For I am a figure of Legend, the one who stands above all Humans! There isn't anything that you can do, and when I have defeated the Beast, my Beithir, I'll be unstoppable!"

"You're just crazy," She waved him off dismissively, and relished in how his face drooped. She would have to let her mother know that what she said about those with large egos was true, they were immensely larger targets. Abstractly, she also knew that goading him into a fight wasn't exactly the best thing for her health, but she sighed and did it anyways. All she could do was hope that her backup showed up like it was supposed to.

"You speak about things you don't know, Child," He hissed coldly at her, and she responded by pouring semblance into her entire canister of Red Dust and hurling it at his face. She actually felt a bit of mirth as the thing exploded on contact with him, and sent him hurling backwards from the force of the makeshift explosive to slam into the torn apart Van with a metallic thump.

"All I see is someone talking when they should be fighting," She threw back, "All bark, and no bite," She saw the taunts working, and realized that while angry meant mistakes, it also meant no more playing around, but she decided that following in the footsteps of the more dangerous people that she knew may serve her well. Her Step-Father wouldn't have taunted, but she knew for a fact that Austin would've.

And as her enemy, possibly the most dangerous thing she had ever fought or ever would, charged forwards and began to hack and slash at her with weapons made of Aura that cut through things like they didn't even exist, She decided that if she lived through this, it would either be because or despite what Austin had "Taught" her.

Time to find out which one it was.

* * *

Roman struggled against the force of the Terrorist in his Grasp, one arm roped around his neck, and the other pinning that properly in place with Mr. Gibraltar's signature Discipline Headlock, while Cosma hung on for dear life to Roman's back with her hands around his mouth to limit the screaming as the man flailed about in their collective grasp. After she bucked off and the two men fell over and almost knocked over a desk, she tried to do her best Austin impression and slugged the man squarely in the jaw. All three of them slumped to the floor as the man gave out, Roman as his energy gave out and Cosma holding her hand while trying not to scream in pain. Cosma jumped to her feet first and tore off the man's robe, rolling it up like she were going to wring it out before hogtying the man, before taking off one of his socks and stuffing it in his mouth for good measure.

Roman Stood shakily before the two of them grabbed him and dragged him closer to the door, before Roman pulled out his Scroll and checked the App that Him and Corporal Grant had managed to put together. It took most of three days and five CCT engineers to do it, but they had managed to reverse a little over a third of the Speakers in Sahili to be repurposed as Microphones, which weren't very good for picking up anything clearly unfortunately, but they were good at detecting sound in general. Grant was the one who thought of hooking them up to an electronic light switch labeled with which Speaker was picking up sound, and Roman was using it to excellence in the Refinery now that Ashley had managed to patch them back in.

And as he looked at his phone and saw almost all of the Refinery dark save for the Hauling entrance and a few select places on the map, he smiled at his makeshift map of the place and the fact that there seemed to be no one in between them and the Front door. He nodded to his Partner and they picked up the now awake and barely able to struggle Guard before shuffling off towards the entrance at a healthy clip, ducking low as they came to the manager's office that overlooked the Working Floor so as to not be seen. Ever since they had received the Broadcast that had threatened to use the Refinery as an explosive they had been systematically sweeping the place, using Cosma's Semblance to discreetly steal their scroll before pouncing.

And then once they were trussed up and unable to Move?

"Sit right here mister," Cosma whispered as they reached the Conference Room, which the SDC seemed to enjoy putting in every building no matter the function. They grunted in exertion as they picked him up and essentially hung him on the back of the chair, so that they couldn't move, and therefore get to each other and start to untie each other. Roman dared to look at the other Faunus, all Twenty of them, that they had captured and couldn't help but laugh at the nonsensical nature of their operation before leaving the room and closing the door.

"That was the last of them," Cosma whispered as she crept towards the window overlooking the Floor and disappearing momentarily to survey the area, "Just about nine of them left," She announced quietly as she reappeared and padded over to him and gave him a look, "You really need to learn Sign language like I've been telling you. It would make this much easier." He responded by raising an eyebrow before shrugging, making it clear which one of them needed to talk. She scowled at him, almost stomping her foot in anger before thinking better of it, "Uh, dumb question, but you do remember the plan, right?" He gave her another look, "Right, you did make it. Sorry. Just nervous," she gave him an anxiety filled look, pleading with him for some type of reassurance, obviously not wanting the role in the operation that she had to have, and that only she could play, "We'll be fine, right?"

He put a hand on her shoulder and did his best to give her a reassuring smile before speaking for the first time since he had laid out the plan, "Probably," before pulling out his weapon and moving towards the Window. He psyched himself up for a moment before running full speed ahead, glowing bright orange as his Aura came forth to shield him from the Glass.

Time for his performance.

* * *

"A-As long as people think he'll win, he'll win," I stared down at the Faunus I was lifting bodily by his Shirt Collar, and my eyes narrowed as [Intimidation] began to blare in effect. I saw his body slack in my grip as the fear overcame him, but he managed to give me an assured smile, with a vicious edge to it as he preached about his Savior, "His Semblance is called [Conquest], Mutt! After years and years of torture at the hands of humans like you, it came to his call! For every person that he has conquered, has given proof that he will win, they fuel him!" He laughed a manic laugh even as I slammed him into the Granite wall behind him. The force of the blow bag-piped his body and produced a hoarse sound in between a honk and a laugh, but he was undeterred as though just speaking about it gave him hope and strength, "His Aura is limitless, his strength unmatched, and his mind unparalleled! Your fight is hopeless!"

I stared at the man clinically, trying to reason out exactly how an ability like that worked. Assuming, of course, that this man had the correct answers.

The last Ten or so of the Grunts that I had talked to in this gods-forsaken Mine hadn't.

But then again, I didn't really expect some random grunt to have an innate knowledge of his Commander's Ability, but what he was describing sounded rather similar to my first encounter with the Fang in Slurry. I shook off the thought and refocused on my prey, and tried to think about whether or not to waste anymore time on him. He wouldn't talk about their plans or resources, only how utterly out of depth he thought I was.

A point with which I disagreed.

There was always a way to win, it was usually a matter of how low you were willing to sink to find your solution.

And I wasn't one to let something stupid like a rule stop me.

I nodded, deciding that the conversation was done, and that I had extracted all the information that I could at the moment, in the middle of a small scale invasion. "-stands above all hum- **agh** ," I crushed his throat in my hand in the middle of whatever zealous monologue was springing forth from his mouth. In a moment I had slammed my head into his and he went slack before I threw him over my shoulder to land on the ground struggling for breath. I saw that the attention of one of the Worker's that I had managed to not kill in a cave-in looked over at me in concern, but I just waved him off as I made my way towards the entrance of the cave.

First, I need to gauge this 'Savior's' strength. And then, if necessary, destroy any that follow him to reduce his advantage. Rinse and repeat until I win.

Simple Enough.

 **[Instinct]** stuttered to life as I exited the Mines and was free of the nasty smells of Gas and Dust and Blood, quite a lot of Blood actually, and expand outwards to begin tracking where I needed to be. I skipped over the Fight at the Front gates entirely, as I truly didn't care about that one way or another. No one I cared about was fighting there, after all. My senses went west from my position at the center of the Town, and began to sweep clockwise, finding smaller skirmishes between soldiers and Deserters amongst the houses and smaller buildings still being erected, and Finally one that seemed to be between people I actually cared about, and others I didn't actually know how to handle.

So I shrugged my shoulders and pulled up the [Message] screen and stating very clearly and politely that if he harmed them, I'd hunt him across Remnant and kill him and anyone he loved. I waited for a moment before his response's notification popped and read it.

* * *

 **[Message from; [Kelter]]**

 **[Subject; RE: [Your imminent Doom]]**

 **[Message; [We weren't gonna kill em before, but now that the robed fuck killed our boss… we aren't sticking around. Best of all, we got the blonde one to PAY us to leave, which is hilarious. See ya round, bitchboi.]]**

* * *

I quirked an eyebrow at the message as my ears and Mini-Map confirmed that the two groups were separating before shrugging and returning to my sweep. Everything seemed normal until I noticed the CCT and found clear signs of a large fight, a firefight if you would. Immediately I spun towards the Blinking Red light that was a staple of all CCT installations and threw myself towards it. [Smackdown] activated as I came down, knocking out a Light Pole and an electrical wire as I fell down to the ground once more. I hopped out of my crater and felt my blood begin to boil as I found my Partner looking battered and bloody as she was held aloft by the throat of the man who had caused me to break my Scroll.

 **[Abbad Saqr]**

 **[Level 38 Exalted Paragon]**

 **[Idolized]**

I let my Chain unwrap itself as we stared each other down, and I saw confusion appear on his face, even as I recognized him. Ashley kicked him in the chest and flopped to the ground in a sweating, heaving, and bloody mess coughing up a storm as she tried to regain her breath. He stared me down as an array of emotions flew across his face, before settling on Bewilderment and shock. The small diamonds that made up the wings looked just as sharp and deadly as I remembered them, but the structure of the wings seemed to have grown two-fold since our brief meeting in Slurry.

And his black hair, black eyes, and the tanned skin of his face looked exactly the same as when I had last seen him at the Bar in Outpost Theta.

"Truly an odd path you have traveled," He stated, circling to my left as I made my way to Ashley, keeping my eyes trained on the man. I knelt next to My partner, who simultaneously waved me away and used my shoulder to pull herself to her feet, but kept my attention on him as he stood just thirty feet away, smiling an odd smile, "To have met me twice and survived both times. I do not believe that anyone else in the world can boast the same," He gave me an odd look, one which I recognized as caution, as sizing me up. Every enemy, whether it be human or Grimm, that saw me did that, so it wasn't a novel experience.

Apparently I was a uniquely odd sight in this world of ours.

"Can you walk?" I calmly asked Ashley as she stood next to me, holding her weapons in shaking hands. She glared at me as I watched out of the corner of my eye, and I nodded as I realized that she'd never be able to admit that she couldn't.

If I couldn't expect her to leave the area, I'd have to take him somewhere else.

"I see now what Bosco meant," He tried once more as he watched me, stretching his arms as I moved forwards, "Saying that you weren't Quite Faunus, but you certainly didn't act Human. I must have been gone that night not to place you with the description he gave. Not many other people look, act, and talk like monsters," Then he nodded towards Ashley, "In fact the only thing Human-like I've seen from you is how you treat her."

I ignored his words and calmly wrapped my chain around my left fist like it was boxing tape.

"But no matter, If you wish to fight me you'll die like all the rest," He spoke slowly and deliberately, and I felt the effect of his words hit me like a wave, glaring at him and letting my Aura come to the fore to bolster me against the effect. I pulled up the Minimap and looked for a suitably deserted location for a fight that might get out of hand even as he noticed my glare, "Do you think you have a chance? None-"

Giving The Charisma Build no more time to run his motor-mouth, I Launched into him while he was distracted and caught his face in my right hand and began to squeeze. In the same motion I turned towards the North-West and jumped to my chosen location, dragging his faux-feathered ass with me. When I reached the Apex of the Jump I spun in the air three times before hurling him towards the Ground with **[Power Throw]**. The force of the technique tore the flesh of my forearm and ripped the cartilage of my shoulder from the bizarre angle that it was twisted into by the move.

 **[Smackdown]** activated as I tore through the air, nowhere near as powerful as the last one I had performed but still enough to collapse the house that I landed on. I threw the Rubble off of me and made my way towards the only Blip on my Minimap for half a mile around and took off with [Trample]. The road broke down underneath my feet as I beat apart the asphalt, walls shook as I sped up and felt the red descend over my vision. It wasn't anything like my arrival to the Town, where I lost myself to the violence, but it was still there fueling my actions.

And I welcomed it like an old friend.

This was the man that had put all of my friends at risk, and who seemed to be hell-bent on popping up in my life whether either one of us had an option in the matter. So, either he won or I won, but one of us was dying tonight.

With that last thought I charged up a [Thundering Blow] and slammed my mailed fist into the house that was in my way, tearing apart concrete and steel as I made a straight path towards my Prey.

* * *

'3,4,' He counted as he stepped backwards and stood still, waiting for any advance from his impromptu dance partner. His feet never moved forwards or backwards as he weaved in between blows. Some were more important to dodge than others, as the heavy weapons crashed through walls and bled force or heavy fists that crashed into his cheeks or stomach could be taken and turned aside with his weapon or even Aura alone. '5,6,' He counted as he took another two steps back to avoid a heavy downward blow that came swinging in for his head, taking out a light or two in the ceiling of the hallway.

Roman ducked underneath the next cross swing of his opponent's sword, a sword that was larger than he was and probably equally as heavy, before swaying around the man's fist that followed. Melodic Cudgel swung up and pressed against the man's sternum and fired off the Large Red Dust Cartridge that he had been saving for this fight, catapulting the man down the hallway, and Roman backed even further away, anticipating the furious face that the man, who just wouldn't stop babbling about his cause, had on his face as well as the massive horizontal swing that cleared the hallway of smoke and debris.

He hefted the sword over his shoulder and pointed at him, but Roman ignored it and whatever he said while he took another two steps backward. He counted in his head as he moved, continuing even at the detriment of his footwork in the next exchange with his opponent, who he allowed finally to throw him bodily with the flat of his sword down the hallway to impact the Elevator door there. He twisted as he fell to avoid being sliced in half along with half of the wall and landed with his back on the remains of the door. His opponent sneered down at him before slicing at his head one last time.

Roman braced his hands against the wall behind him and pushed himself forward to slide between the large Bear Faunus' Legs, before curling himself up to deliver a devastating headbutt into the groin of his opponent, who immediately stilled in pain. Roman shakily stood up behind him, and kicked him as hard as he was able to make himself. The bulk of the man crashed into and through the Sliced apart doors to tumble down the Elevator shaft to splat upon whatever was at the bottom.

Roman turned and ran back out onto the Working Floor, where he spied Cosma hurtling towards him. She caught him while he was surprised around the neck and dragged him back down the hallway, moments before a loud boom echoed across the building. Laying there, breathing raggedly, he looked at his partner who was lying next to him equally as haggard dealing with an explosive big enough to take down a building three stories high and at least a hundred feet long by, hopefully, throwing it into and operating the conveyor belt to cover it with even more inert Dust, as the least reactive substance in the building.

Feebly, he held a shaking hand up, and with a groan she struggled to turn over and give him a high five, but the point still held and he let himself lay back in satisfaction and watch his phone for anything coming their way.

They had done it.

Somehow.

* * *

Abbad grunted in exertion as he tried to push the Slab of Concrete off of him, but sighed as his Wings flared to life to cut apart that Stone instead. He let out a gasp for breath once he was free from his rubble prison, and looked around feverishly for the monster that had just thrown him around like a piece of trash. He let out a snarl as he staggered to his feet, whirling around and destroying anything that tried to stand in the way of his sight.

"Alright," He yelled to the sky as he climbed higher on the pile of rubble, slashing at anything that might have been big enough to hide a person, "You certainly have my attention, Mutt!" He smiled cruelly as he crested the Lip of the Crater that he had landed in, and hissed as a piece of rebar stabbed tore open his palm. He cradled it against his chest, before his eyes widened as he realized that his Aura hadn't stopped it like usual. And then his eyes widened as he realized that even as his reserves were filling faster than should have been possible for anyone but himself, they had been brought down past half.

'Impossible,' he thought as stray thoughts raced around his skull, and he began looking around with not just anger but also now a bit of fear, 'I'm invulnerable! My Aura is impossibly large, for I am an angel in human form! The Older Brother's Very own creation, come to guide the Faunus to the Light, but this… Thing nearly brought me low with a single throw?! How?'

In the souls of his feet he began to feel vibrations that started low at first, but were quickly growing louder and stronger as he stood there. A primal rage took over as he pulled himself over the ridge, and then stood on now once again solid feet ready to take on this Human who had tried so foolishly to bring him low. He tore apart the Buildings in his way with his wings and toppling over walls with his arms, and before he knew it he was in the Street, ready to fight and determined not to be taken unaware once more. He turned towards the Sounds as a loud boom echoed throughout the night over the sounds of gunfire and explosions from the distant south.

Then his adversary landed, and Abbad found himself unsure once more, but covered for it by charging him instead. He was graceful, and quicker on his feet than most Faunus he knew, and he slammed into the Mutt with all of that force and speed, aiming for his head to take him down in one hit. The blow rang true, his aura carving through flesh with ease, causing him to smile as the man's face tore away and surely left him dead.

Then the dead man's fist caught him in the chest and sent him flying away to crash against the Asphalt of the road. Abbad looked up at the monster in confusion and then dawning horror as he saw what was underneath his face; a Skull made of Darkened Steel, impossibly hard bone that regenerated before his very eyes, the scratch he was sure that he had left on it disappearing as the monster stared back at him balefully with its Red Eyes.

Once its face had regenerated alongside the bone, leaving his face pale olive skin on one side and suntanned brown on the other, he began trudging towards him with a wicked smile on his face, full of sharp teeth longer than even the Wolf Faunus of Old Atlas would have boasted. Abbad shot to his feet and swung once more to try and tear off a limb or two, anything to prove that he was killable, and once more found his blow turned aside as it caught on his Forearm, sinking through flesh with ease but unable to find purchase in the bone. The Mailed fist rocketed forwards again, taking his Aura to the yellow even as it tried to replenish itself under the blow as he flipped through the street.

He stood on shaky legs, his pride not able to let him run away or admit defeat, "I'm the Loach! The Savior! I cannot be bested by someone like y-!" Another fist sent him careening away, his Wings tearing up chunks of asphalt as he rolled, before he scrambled to stand once more. He roared unintelligibly as he swung both of his Wings at the man, who held his arms over his head in a crossed fashion to catch it. Abbad used the position to fling himself forward, to throw a haymaker or a flurry of blows, or anything at all, but the Monster just stood there taking it all, becoming covered in blood as blow after blow tore through flesh.

Punch after punch, slice after slice, he weathered it all with a stony indifference hidden behind his upraised arms that he could not cut.

"I'm the Loach! Unkillable! Invulnerable!" he yelled as he slashed and tore at the beast that was thrashing him, "No man can stand against me! I'm better than you, better than anyone! I'm **immortal!** " His right arm shot forward, and at the last minute his opponent let the blow hit him in the face, shearing off most of his face even as he moved forward into his space. A massive calloused hand gripped his arm and twisted until it snapped and popped his already waning shield. Had he not have been so tired, so sluggish from the exertion, he would have cried out, but instead it was all he could do to not just break down into a ball of tears.

" _Immortal?_ " He growled out through torn apart lips as he flipped him over his shoulder, using his broken arm as a lever for the maneuver, slamming him down onto the broken ground. He stepped forward and grabbed him by the front of his armor as his Aura tried to refill itself, but he saw to that by slamming the Terrorist into the ground so hard it left an imprint in the asphalt. He was lifted before the face of his death, " _Let's test that out, shall we?_ "

His left fist reared back, as his face healed itself back from the blood covered skull until the Monster looked like a human once more, smiling Ferally at him from behind that human visage that leaked blood from every opening. He let go of his shirt and Abbad stumbled back, but refused to fall onto his knees. Instead he fell forward, trying one last time in vain to attack the Monster that dared oppose him. With one last defiant roar he hurtled forward, only to be met with a Fist impossibly strong.

He felt the force of it before it hit him, pushing his hair back, tearing his armor apart, and breaking the ground underneath him without even connecting. The baleful Red eyes had no remorse or guilt from the act, but he cursed him all the same.

Then the blow connected, reducing him and everything in the block behind him to dirt as the blow hit home, leaving nothing but a crater the size of a Bullhead in its place.

Covered almost entirely in blood, bone, and dust.

* * *

"Good Riddance," I grit out in the silence that followed, as my HUD Continued to Flash warning.

 **[Hp: 436/52271]**

I fell to my knees as the fight finally dragged me down and I spit up what felt like part of my face that had been lodged in my throat when I had taken that last Hit. I rolled over onto my back and decided that I was going to sleep tonight.

* * *

 **Quest Completed:[Defense of Sahili!]**

 **Fulfill your promise, and defend your friends.**

 **-Repel the invaders!**

 **-Ensure the Safety of important structures.**

 **Rewards; +1500 exp, + 5 Free Points, and 1 Perk Points.**

 **Bonus:**

 **-Rescued the Workers in the Mines!**

 **+5 Free points.**

* * *

 **[Good Work, Boss.]**

* * *

I sighed as I stood, cracking my back as [Second Wind] kicked in to get me back into better shape. Sleep was for the weak.

First I'd gather all of my wayward people, then I'd sleep.

I was feeling awfully weak after all that.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 24: 975/2400 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 56701/56701 HP Regen: 1218 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 2067/2067, Stm Regen: 84 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 9696/9696, Ap Regen: 242 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level; [259/1050]; Natural Stress Relief; 1 per Minute.**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (142) 152**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 49**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (184) 197**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 9**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 100**

 **Free Points; 10.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 1033**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 39477**

 **Pistol Atk: 301**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 322 Damage.**

 **Mag; 19 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed. Inherited from Nan.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [Osteogenesis] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm]. Inherited from Fenrir.**

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%. Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You? Gained Through The Little Things.**

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Regenerator]; When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**

 **Regenerate an eighth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, Quarter of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened]; I Will still fight...**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut]; Wade through Blows…**

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach]; Hard heads Prevail!**

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

 **[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.5+50) to (Str*3.75+50).**

* * *

 **Deadly Sin; [Wroth]; You wouldn't like me when I'm Angry.**

 **When overstressed, your body will attack the source of stress.**

* * *

 _Climax of the Arc, Resolution next chapter. Finally out of this stage, and let me tell you what. I learned a lot about pacing. Next time I plan to make sure the climax isn't fucking two chapters long, let alone an arc over the span of two days. Shit was exhausting._

 _Also, less importantly, this thing has been up for a year strong, and I have tried to put out at least two chapters a month for the entirety of its existence. So that worked. Thanks for reading this far and stuff._

 _To the Two guests, one of you said he needs new skills to which I say that I'm trying to make a point about not needing skills. In fact, his entire fighting style is taking something generally not thought of impressive and turning it into a major part of his style. For instance, Power Attack/Thundering Blows isn't a major player for most humans because they don't have the stamina to make it as destructive, usually just taking a regular attack to a point where it does fifty percent more damage, tops. Austin uses a chain because it was the first thing that he picked up, and then didn't want to put in the time to learn something else, and thought it was pretty cool._

 _To the other, who suggested the skill chain of Thundering blows:Smackdown:Shatter, if I need to turn Austin into a literal Nuke, I will keep that in mind. Otherwise, that's just a suicide run._

 _Review and stuff, as always._

 _Music for today;_

 _Roman; "Devil's Dance Floor" by Flogging Molly_

 _Cosma; "Crab Rave" by RichaadEB_

 _Abbad and Austin Fight; "Defender" by As I Lay Dying._

 _Alright,_

 _Jericho Out._


	30. Level 2: Resolution

_Interlude A_

* * *

It was relieved man that looked out from his high office window, looking down the Window towards the CCT that had been commandeered and abused. The night had passed fitfully, with pockets of zealots deciding that it was better to die for their cause than be captured and giving significant amounts of resistance to his forces. They were eventually dealt with, but with each event of violence he lost more and more Troopers.

He was happy to say that the night was over, and with it the outbreaks of violence. Sure, there would be more to deal with in the short term, but now he had _plenty_ evidence that he needed more men in Sahili. And resources to rebuild with, and _finish that damn wall_. He returned to the presence as his "officers" began to question the young man who had been at the center of the conflict, from beginning to end. From what he had seen, he had been there at the SDC mining Town of Slurry, where the first Conversion session of the Fang had occurred, where he had rebuffed them swiftly.

He had then encountered them in the Forests of _Al'Ghabat Aljanubia_ where he destroyed the would-be-occupying force that was sure to have eventually attacked and procured the Outpost for whatever ritual seemed to be tied to their leader's Semblance.

"His semblance," Chief Ramsey clarified for the young man, who was looking much cleaner than the last time he had been in this Conference Room. Ramsey had been one of four Ranking Officers that had survived the Attack, and was dutifully upholding his share of responsibilities by recording the interview for his later report to the SDC Headquarters.

Klaus was sure that the commander would've liked him.

"Right," came the grating noise that might have been mistaken for speech if you were talking to an engine due for an oil change. The young man's energized eyes smoothly wound around the Three of the SDC employees, Klaus himself, Lieutenant- _Captain_ Hermann, and Chief Ramsey, as he formulated his response, "That load of horseshit. Son of a bitch had one of those tricky semblances, the ones that change the rules. One of my friends has something similar, anyone within a certain range had to face a projection of their worst fear. The rub on those kind of Things is the fact that the user ain't immune to the effects of it, but I couldn't bank on that this time," He shook his head with a rueful smile on his scarred face, showing off his elongated canines and poor grasp on normality for those to see, "The Guy's thing was about confidence, arrogance really. If people thought he would win, then he'd become more powerful. In what way, I have no idea. He hit pretty hard but it wasn't anything special. He took more hits than anything else I've fought in a long while, and had an Aura that would've made it almost impossible to kill him," His eyes narrowed in thought before grimly nodding, "That was probably it actually, his Aura. He had some control over the Auras of those that under his boot, like that time where he made the people at Slurry try and attack me against their will. Maybe he just got more Aura with each person, maybe he took theirs, who knows. A little late to matter, if I'm being honest."

"Quite," spoke Friedrich, who swept his now unruly and unkempt hair out of his blue eyes. He had possibly had the second worst time of it, besides Corporal Grant who had barely made it out of the CCT alive after some rather brutal beatings from his captors and was now recovering in the infirmary. Hermann had been in the thick of it all night, rounding up stragglers and deserters who had tried to flee from the Guards. His eyes were tired, but no less focused than usual as he spoke clearly, "How did you bypass this?"

"I hit him really hard."

Ramsey looked up with an outraged expression as though he were about to demand more, but the General motioned for him to write it down as the answer, for there would be no further explanation from him. It was the one thing that Klaus had managed to drag out of his partner in regards to his capabilities, that he did things outside of expectation, and with infuriatingly little explanation from the man himself.

The General doubted he knew how he did such things to begin with.

"Why was he so focused on the CCT?" Hermann continued to probe, most likely coming to a conclusion on the idea himself but wanting a second opinion from Austin, "There were many targets, as shown by his attempt on the refinery, but instead of going after the precious resource of Dust he went for the CCT."

"The people I _talked to_ claimed that the reason that he was the true _Loach_ was that he didn't have an effective range on his semblance," He explained with a shrug, obviously having taken this with a grain of salt himself, "If that were true, and you managed to get out a message to the wider world? Infinite Power."

Klaus nodded at the assessment, putting the final pieces of his own theory on some odd strategies that had been employed against them, but Ramsey interrupted with an important question, "Then why the hell didn't he just do that from the start? He could've gotten all the support he needed and then crushed us."

The General answered in kind, "How many would've been swayed by words alone? How many if he had proof?" He asked rhetorically with a shake of his head, "What better way than the decimation of Sahili, the largest SDC installment on Sanus. If I had been in his shoes, I would've waited to broadcast about my victory as well."

In fact, he knew intimately the workings of similar Semblances. It was how his old Commander's had worked as well; Those who chose to follow him gained his boon and became connected in their drive forward to crush their enemies. Often times in the middle of battle those who had been shaken by their ferocity and had gained the Commander's Boon themselves before turning on their comrades. They gained reprieves, never pardons, for their turn. They found clarity and camaraderie in the Burning Boon, for they were with people that shared the same feeling. Often they were conscripted into the Battalion and were easily integrated into Military life.

The important part was that they had believed what the battalion had, that the Commander would win.

Much like then, proof was the catalyst for the shaken's turn, which proved what he believed. Belief could never be taken, only given. Those who clung to it through the battle never turned, but those who held it loosely were easily swayed upon seeing their enemies and the _proof_ that they brought.

"Anythin' else?" came the rasp from their interviewee, who looked to be thoroughly bored. His hands, which were quickly tanning to match the rest of his old skin, drummed a rhythm into the desk, all at once vivacious and uncaring for what was happening in the room. Not that the General could blame him for the carefree attitude, he had enough power in his hands to take care of a man who had threatened the entire SDC and almost won. He had single handedly caused the most destruction in the town by himself, and not even by a small margin.

The General shook in his head as he remembered why he was secretly known as the Monster of the Mount, and realized that this wasn't a fluke, a single time occurrence. He had fought a gang-war, had fought a small part of the Military, and now a Terrorist Organization, and there seemed to be no signs of him slowing down.

If he had been pressed, Klaus may have called him the most dangerous Man he had ever met, with _very_ few exceptions.

"Nothing else," He responded out loud before standing up and offering a hand for his guest to shake with a smile that was genuine for the man that had apparently saved the town from enslavement, "Do not be surprised when hazard pay is provided to your School Account."

He was not surprised to find that despite all that he knew about the young man, he wasn't all that scared of him. He didn't strike out blindly, attacking all of those in his reach, nor did he seem to have some nefarious goal in mind. He had fought for his life on multiple occasions, as well as the citizens of Mount Glenn, and from what he could tell his friends.

As long as Klaus stayed away from those groups of people and kept being a generally nice person, he was sure that he wasn't in his crosshairs.

"Ash and Janette'll be ecstatic," the Monster of the Mount responded easily, his smile still unnatural and a little unnerving, like a Beowolf that had forgotten its fangs, but Klaus found it oddly… endearing? He supposed that he wasn't a long winded man like Commander Schug had been, telling speeches into the night about how they were going to survive and thrive, but he still had that same presence that drew people to him.

Sure, _most_ of those people had weapons in hand to drive him off, but the few that flocked to him were great in power, even for school children.

Wherever he went, Klaus was sure that important things would follow. And as he watched him walk out of the room, he decided to support him if it ever came down to it, and from the way that Hermann and Ramsey watched him leave, he was certain they'd agree with him on all accounts.

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

I tried, and failed, to whistle happily as I walked out of the Main SDC building, happy to be rid of the oppressive feeling of bureaucracy that pressed down on my shoulders simply from being in the place. Unfortunately, it seemed that despite all of the advances I had made with my body in the past six months, I was still one of those people that was unable to whistle. I shook my head as the same pop-up that had been popping for the last two minutes came up once more, and barely looked at it before closing it.

* * *

 **[Whistling] Skill Locked; Stat requirements not met; Dex 10 and Wis 15.**

* * *

I smiled at the screen, because I knew the dirty little secret to the Game; you didn't need the game to learn something. It had tried to pull the wool over my eyes in the beginning, turing everything that I tried into skills that with enough practice could be useful, but when I had started getting bored and experimenting, I found that I was only limited by my imagination and _bolstered_ by the Game.

I could catch things with a chain in a display of mastery that surpassed anything else I could do with finesse, but it wasn't called a skill. Simply mastery of my weapon right?

But it cost Stamina, more stamina than a normal swing of the chain, to do so, which meant the game was tracking it, just not wanting or unable to label it as a Skill.

And then there was my plan with the Reversed Stereo equipment that Roman had utilized rather well. Even if I was unable to do it myself, as without the **[Crafting]** Skill it seemed all of my efforts were in vain, as the things I worked on were screwed over by causality itself. But I knew how to do it, and I knew how to explain it to others well enough to get them on the right track. And if I made really simple things they didn't break, so I _could_ craft things, but the system just wouldn't help me.

I saw what the Game was doing, and Fenrir seemed to agree with my idea; it was trying to dissuade me from not using it.

Now, it wasn't throttling me or misinforming me, but it definitely was being difficult. There was a thought that came along with it, as the Game didn't seem to have a sentience behind it in the traditional sense, all personality in the text was claimed by Fenrir as well as the directionals of Quests being his work outside of one particular exception, the **[Ultimate Monster]** Quest. The effects of skills were unbiased, never telling me which was a better decision or a worse, only what could possibly be done.

I think that the silence from the system wasn't a malicious intent, but its way of interpreting my stats. Obviously if I had no **Int** I wasn't interested in **[Crafting]** or Magic or anything like that, so it simply showed me what it thought I wanted to see.

Now I just had to test my theory by inputting new Data to throw off its calculations. Something random, maybe. Something definitely in my usual preferences of skills or information. Something that I seemed to have no skill in, and then simply become skilled outside of the System, without its help, and see if it still gave me the Skill without meeting the Required Stats.

Something like **[Whistling]**.

It had taken all night to think of something that fit all of those criteria, settling on Drumming on the Kitchen Table, but the System interpreted that as the language of **[Morse Code]** forcing me to try another activity. When I heard a songbird outside the window at four in the morning, I tried to whistle like Nan had used to and had been surprised by the Notification before smiling at it.

I had been using all of my free time to try and get the hang of it, just to see the limits of the System in this regard. I already had it within Masteries, as complex maneuvers were apparently under that umbrella, but assigning skills? The jury was still out on how far that went.

Blowing air through my lips in a fruitless attempt to mimic Nan I pulled up the screens I had decided not to look through just yet, as I had been euphoric from my release from the metaphoric tyranny of Abbad and his terrorists. He had been keeping me under his thumb, unable to run off without the possibility of him attacking immediately when I was away, and I had been forced to sit and wait for his approach.

I snarled at the memory.

I hated being forced to do anything.

I had celebrated the night of Freedom by _choosing_ to sit in the Living Room of the Damaged house that we were still occupying, protecting my friends and keeping an eye on the fights that were breaking out across the town. We had done more than our part, and I felt that they deserved the break from the fight, no matter how feral of a fight they had put up when I had thrown them over my shoulder and carried them home. We had done the leg work, let the SDC finish this mess up, I had argued. And the fighting was all but done after I had decimated their leader.

I honestly didn't see why they were so against sleeping in a war zone.

Besides that, in line with taking a Break, I had put off dealing with the screens until I was "back on the clock" so to speak. Spent the night drawing horribly crude renditions of my fight with Abbad to immortalize him even if he had been a mortal, _which I had thoroughly tested_. Stick figures were the extent of my ability, but it was better than nothing.

At least it wasn't a hand turkey.

'... _I should've traced my hand for his wings_ ,' I grumbled internally, ' _That would've looked so much better_.'

I shook off the thoughts and returned to my screens that had once again been ignored, though this time it was unintentionally. I pulled up my **[Status]** page and distributed the Free points that I had earned, smiling as my Con passed two hundred and put me in the upper echelons of the "Things That are Hard to Kill" List that I was sure existed out there somewhere.

Then I pulled up the second of the four notifications.

* * *

 **Attribute Points; 1.**

 _ **Select a perk from the Following List;**_

 _ **+Decimator**_ **Tree;**

 _ **+Finesse**_ **Tree;**

 _ **+Bulwark**_ **Tree;**

 _ **+Acrobat**_ **Tree;**

 _ **Scholar**_ **Tree;**

 _ **+Ponderer**_ **Tree;**

 _ **+Rogue**_ **Tree;**

 _ **+Unyielding**_ **Tree;**

* * *

I blinked blearily at the thing before realizing that I had received an **[Attribute Point]** among my other awards from destroying Abbad. With a shrug I Opened up the Bulwark tree and selected the next Regeneration Perk, **[Fast Regenerator]** , deciding that more Stamina and Hp Regen never hurt. The Perk doubled the bonus of the first one, which was already substantial but would only continue to grow larger, increasing my Stamina regen by fifty per second by itself.

Nodding in satisfaction, I closed it and looked at the third of the four Screens.

After a moment of reading my eyes narrowed and I could feel my Aura begin spiking in response.

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Destiny Breaker]!**

 _ **Your Gods don't control me.**_

 **-Invalidated a Prophecy.**

 **Rewards; [Destiny Breaker] Trait.**

* * *

This was… concerning. A memory wafted through my mind like smoke, a barest hint of something related that had been buried underneath more important dealings. A flash of light, a smell of scorch, and an old lady drinking to cover her cough. She had claimed that she had repeated a prophecy, that Raven had said concerned me.

And the Game was confirming it.

This was either dreadfully important, or increasingly irrelevant as the Prophecy had apparently been broken. With a grimace, as I knew which way things usually ended up when I was involved, I pulled up the Fourth and last Notification, the description of my new trait.

* * *

 **[Destiny Breaker] Trait Gained!**

 _ **The Chains that Bind will be severed, and I shall be the shearing force.**_

 **-200 Luck.**

 **(100 - Luck)% chance to Break [Curses] and [Blessings] applied to you.**

 **[Marked; [Subjects of Prophecy]]; All of those within the affected Group shall recognize you as [Chainbreaker], with the potential to be hostile.**

 **?**

* * *

"Figures," I muttered to myself as I exited out of the Window, "But, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but still. **[Subjects of Prophecy]** , what a loose term. I don't see any easy fights with anyone like that," I spoke to myself as I dragged a hand down my face, deciding that despite the potential for massive backlash I'd essentially ignore this new Trait as best I could. Not to mention that the good part of the Trait was based on having a low level of luck, and if Luck existed, which I hadn't thought it had, then I was sure to have little of it.

Because realistically, what were the chances of running into a Prophecy in a lifetime.

With a Shrug I focused on the more important bit of information, barking into the depths of my mind, " _Oi! Fuckface! I have a_ _ **Luck Stat**_ _? Did you forget to mention that to me?_ "

* * *

 **[I didn't forget. This is news to me as well, Boss. It doesn't seem like there are any Skills that are dependent on it, nor do you use Free Points to increase it. A lurking variable. First time I've heard of it too, Boss. Maybe its not a stat, but a mechanic like [Renown] or something like that.]**

* * *

I shrugged and decided to try it for myself.

And since all the other mechanics had their own pages, couldn't hurt to try and pull up the **Luck Page-**

* * *

 **Mechanic unlocked; [Luck]!**

 **Luck; 1.**

 **Effects;**

 _ **+((Luck/10)-100)% chance for Aura based techniques to be successful (cap at 40%).**_

 **?**

 _ **+((Luck/10)-10)% chance for your attacks to randomly Crit, even outside of the enemy's Critical zone (Cap at 20%).**_

 _ **-((Luck/10) - 100)% chance for a received critical to be ignored and taken as normal damage (Cap at 80%).**_

 **?**

 _ **-((Luck/10) - 100)% to attract an enemy of the same level or highers Hostility upon perception.**_

 **?**

* * *

I stared in disbelief at the Screen, deciding that this couldn't be it. I closed it, counted to ten, and then opened it once more.

It was the same, nearly blank screen with a glaring _one_ staring back at me mockingly.

With a shake of my head and a burgeoning _smile_ at the insanity of the Screen that had popped in front of my face. What useless thing, a Mechanic that seemed to be _designed_ to screw me over. According to the screen I'd have to have a thousand for my luck to even _break even_ on my Success chance for Aura based techniques. And seeing as no one else ever seemed to have the issues that I had with Aura Control, I had to assume that the average luck stat was probably pretty high.

* * *

 **[You don't even know the half of it, Boss. You may have been screwed to begin with. It's nothing new, just because you know** _ **why**_ **things go wrong for you isn't going to change the fact that** _ **they do**_ **. I guess you'll work through it just like before. But… You should definitely see what the Game told me about your Luck.]**

* * *

 **[Dear Administrator, your Player has Fallen below the recommended threshold of Luck [250]. Luck is the value assigned based on an individual's ability to defy fate, and therefore defy the Brothers.]**

 **-?; [-1000]**

 **-Surviving [?]; [-1000] Luck.**

 **-Prolonged contact with an individual with less than 100 Luck (Titania Staín); [-1 per day spent nearby; -3897 Luck].**

 **-5 per Level gained; [-120 Luck].**

 **-[Destiny Breaker] Trait earned; [-200 Luck].**

 **-Various unlikely survivals and victories; [-5409 Luck].**

 **Total Luck Changes; -11626 Luck.**

 **Base Luck; 500.**

 **Current; 1(Minimum).**

 **Rank; [Highest Priority].**

 **[You can raise your Player's Luck by [Preserving the Plans of the Brothers] Or [Dying]. Thank you, have a good day.]**

* * *

I stared uncomprehendingly at the numbers, squinting like that would help me grasp the absolute _bullshit_ that was being thrown my way by the world on this one. Instead I simply closed the message and took away the message that Fenrir was undoubtedly was trying to get across.

I was being penalized by the world for **Surviving**.

I took in a shaky breath as a manic smile spread across my cheeks, and thought over my position as I came to the bottom of the Road that led down the hill to the Town proper of Sahili, looking at my Minimap to orient myself before setting off at a casual pace towards my lodgings. A part of me was beside itself with disbelief, in the corner of my mind laughing itself silly at the situation, but I ignored it in favor of the logical part that pointed out that we were pretty far in the hole, so there was no point in crying about it now.

This news actually made me pretty happy, all things considered. I had always assumed that I had been doing something wrong before and _that_ was why I was constantly being fucked over by the world like some cosmic scale punishing me for… something. But now I knew that I wasn't in the wrong, I had just survived things that I shouldn't have. Nothing personal, no ghosts haunting me, jinxes placed on me for dishonoring my family, or anything that I really could have changed.

I'd been fucked on this count the day I _survived_.

The game had been rigged from the start.

I belted out a loud laugh at the situation as I grabbed the Doorknob of my temporary housing and tried to reason out the subtext of what the messages where saying, but that really wasn't my specialty. I'd try and explain it to Ashley to get her read on it. But one thing that I knew for certain was that the message didn't read like a Condemnation, it reads like an automated message you get when you forget to turn in a library book on time. Like a system without a wager in the outcome was informing me about the consequences of my Decisions.

But, the only issue that was arising from this new information was that my Luck was a Drain upon the Luck of those around me. Not that my group of friends seemed to be the Luckiest of People in the world, my Entire Team had lost Family Members long before hanging out with me. Maybe this was the point of commonality between us all, massively shitty luck.

I shook my head as another smile appeared on my face, deciding that what's done was done. No use crying over spilled milk and all of that.

' _...All of this thinking is making me hungry_.' I looked up as the House came into view before putting on a burst of speed as the thought spurred me onwards, my previous thoughts and disbelief melting away at the thought of a good sandwich, or even just toast. I was a simple man, all I needed was some toast with some butter.

I swung the door closed behind me with a _Bang_ that rattled the wall that housed the doorframe, before failing to whistle once more as I followed **[Instinct]** to the Living Room, finding an exhausted Taylor sprawled out across _my Couch_. She was flung across the beat up piece of metal and cushion, face down in it with her Hair tossed haphazardly about her head with one leg thrown over the back of the couch and one bent so that it stuck up in the air.

I snickered at the sight as I opened up the Refrigerator and began foraging through the thing for Food, before snarling in disgust as the smell of quickly rotting food hit my nose. The power must have gone out sometime last night, so I shut the door as quietly as I could.

"You're back," came the Croak from the couch, so I turned towards her as she stared out from under her mess of hair, and didn't envy her the effort of dealing with it. Never understood having long hair, but it wasn't really my call. Instead I met her eyes with a jagged smile, ignoring Fenrir as he continued to grumble about being tied to the unluckiest person possible, and narrowed my eyes in her direction.

"What are you doing down here?" I questioned as I walked in the room and glared at the chairs that were in the room, as none of them were large enough to let me sit in them comfortably, "Scratch that, what are you even doing up? Everyone else has been down since last night."

She growled as she rolled over on the couch and swept her tawny hair ineffectually out her eyes, "And don't I know it. They've been snoring the entire time. Shebul woke me up with his," She glared half-heartedly at a wall before shrugging, "Better than Constructs, I guess. But the point still stands."

I barked a laugh at her before kicking the couch hard enough to leave a dent in the new age metal wall, wincing internally when She leveled a glare up at me, before returning to the issue of food, "Refrigerator went out, so we're out of food."

"I'm not hungry," She retaliated in a huff. I raised a single eyebrow at her, ' _what does that matter_ ' showing up clearly in the look on my face. "Go get it yourself then," She tried again, but once more I just stared at her before motioning towards the door. She sighed, though I could see the quirk of the corner of her lip as she stood, making a show of stretching and taking her time.

I ignored her theatrics and instead moved back towards the door, throwing words over my shoulder to the squawking girl, "Pizza or Burgers? Personally I'm feeling burgers, but I _always_ want a good burger, so."

She caught up with my steps, and my nose picked up the scent of dried blood as she moved, the metallic smell of iron wafting up from her everytime she moved her right arm. I couldn't tell, with her baggy sweatshirt that she was wearing, but I'd be willing to wager there was a bandage under there, wrapped tightly around some wound. With her Aura strength it would be gone by tomorrow, hopefully, but I still felt obligated to keep an eye on her until then. My eyes strayed to her face as she thought of her answer to my question, and I took the distraction for what it was and observed her.

"Pizza," She decided finally, her pale blue eyes shining resolutely, an undercurrent of happiness underneath the general annoyance of being made to work, "I can put that in the oven without having to worry about you catching yourself on fire, _again_." I nodded at her assessment as I continued to watch and listen to her. Her body language said that she was at ease, devoid of the constant caution that had been one of her trademarks since we had met. Her heartbeat mirrored this, beating slow and constant in her chest.

She was relaxed, for some odd reason.

I looked around us as we walked, noting the veritable warzone that we were surrounded by, and wondered what would change her so much that she was at peace here, when she was constantly on guard around the Dorm. I sniffed the air for something that she was inhaling that could possibly causing this, before recoiling as I got a big whiff of smoke and dirt. I tried to keep my confusion off of my face as I thought about what might be doing this.

"I heard your team got into a fight last night," I spoke pseudo-casually, seemingly spouting the sentence at random. I wasn't good at conversation when I was paying attention, but apparently if I was distracted I was somehow even worse. But Taylor nodded anyway, and I noted the odd response to what should've been a touchy subject.

"Yeah, the Mercenaries weren't hired to protect the Town, they were hired to deal with the Guards on top of the wall," She returned, her voice steady and strong, "And once they did that, they tried to keep us out of the fight. Something about not wanting us to end up dead," she scrunched her eyes in thought, and I shot her a look in response. She eventually shrugged it off, "They seemed genuine. Genuinely _insane_ , that is. Pretty lackadaisical about the whole thing, too. Unconcerned about us, like we weren't even a threat, but concerned for us like we were toddlers playing in a busy street."

"Were you?" I questioned, wondering just how easily TESL had been taken down. They weren't a weak team by any stretch of the term, but up against people operating under the rules of the Game? Most people would have issues dealing with _that_.

"I was," she answered matter-of-factly. She moved closer to me as the recognizable furrows in the ground began to eat up the space that was easily navigated in the street. I nodded in assent of her statement, trusting her ability to judge herself against opponents to a pretty high degree. Call it instinct or experience, but she was usually able to accurately determine the difference in levels between her and opponents almost as accurately as I could, and I could see them. "They had someone who separated me from the others and toyed with me until they were knocked out, and then all three of them rounded on me. Dust Specialist, Gunslinger, and a Speedster," she listed out as she grit her teeth at the memory, the first real sign of any emotion outside of happiness on our little journey, but it was gone quickly, "I was out of my league. Won't happen next time."

"Don't feel bad about it," I reassured her as best I was able, _not very well_. She gave me a flat look, but I just gave her a lopsided smile in return. "We shouldn't be looking at much more happening for the rest of the month, _I hope_ , so we could spend it training each other up, make sure something like this doesn't happen again," I explained, hoping that if she were on board the rest would follow. And I needed as much help as I could get on that front, seeing as _I_ don't even listen to what I say, running around getting in fights and breaking shit like its going out of style, so why the hell should they listen to me?

Without hesitation she nodded at me, the resolution shining in her eyes, an emotion that had never been there before. I narrowed my eyes at her, but she didn't seem to recognize whatever I was seeing.

Which wasn't particularly _weird_ , seeing as even I didn't know what I was seeing.

It wasn't something that happened often, me noticing changes in others. But this one was rather obvious, I thought at least. No questioning me, no outright dismissals, or any of her other tactics that I had gotten used to over my half a year of dealing with her. Simply thinking it through, maybe a suggestion or an answer, and then leaving me to it. Something… had convinced her that I knew what I was doing.

I stared straight ahead, my eyes narrowing in thought as I tried to figure out what had happened that might do that, but I couldn't think of anything special happening.

"Did you get hurt?" She asked casually, and I looked at her with curious eyes. For a moment I simply blinked at her, not really getting what she was talking about before I felt the cogs of my brain shift and it suddenly made sense.

"Fighting Abbad?" Yes, yes I had gotten hurt. In fact the only reason I had survived his last charge was because of **[Deadened]** Attribute, which brought me to 10% health twice throughout the fight as opposed to being knocked unconscious. If the others knew how close to death I had come, they might have had some words with me, but that was the entire reason I had gotten the Attribute to begin with. What others might see as Chance, _or even Luck now_ , I saw as strategy. And Deadened was a viable one.

Every thirty seconds I get a reboot to ten percent instead of getting knocked out, why not use it? Periods of strong defense versus periods of strong offense, dispersed by a thirty second cooldown and recuperation.

I received a nod from her, and I shrugged as I thought about how to respond before settling on what I had done for years; Downplay the entire thing. "Not really. His wings were pretty nasty, but I'm made of steel," I half-joked with a smile, rapping a knuckle on my forehead to produce a soft _clang_.

She gave me a dry look as we turned the corner to the Commissary, which I matched with my own amused smile, " _Made of Steel_?" She queried, but luckily I had an answer for this one.

"Oh yes," I spoke with mischievous intent, feeling the sparkle in my eye as I stood tall and puffed my chest out, "It's in the Staín Family Motto! I've lived my entire life by it, and it's worked out for me," I explained, mimicking Ashley to get across the falsely superior tone of voice by looking down my nose at the shorter girl, who snorted and rolled her eyes at me with a smile.

"That... explains too much," She spoke with a sigh as she walked towards the store, "Living your life by a sentence, a single thought. What the motto?"

It was the mantra that got Nan through the rough days, when there were more bodies than Survivors and she wanted to reach for the bottle. Instead she'd clench her fists and sit on the couch, repeating the First Sentence like it could ward off the ails of the world. And, as it was the same Mantra I used to call upon my Aura and its cool, calming effect, maybe it could ward them off. Seemed to work for me and Nan, at least.

That was one of the reasons she had demanded it be chiseled into her gravestone, she said she didn't want to be a thirsty ghost.

I grabbed her by the shoulder and stopped her from going inside the Building, using the lack of people in the street as a sort of privacy. No reason to go throwing around Family shit in broad daylight, but privacy wasn't a luxury I had much of. I took a deep breath, feeling the cold feeling suffuse my entire body from the base of my spine outwards as I started to speak, the words effecting me much more than the simple thought of them ever could. Words had a weight, an effect on the world, that thought didn't. Nan said speaking was the spark of the divine, the only way that Humans were different than Animals and Grimm.

Words lost to time, brought back only sparingly by those who followed the old ways, but even they didn't speak it like Nan could. She had taught as best she was able, but words and language had never been my strong suit, but for her I had learned a single thing. " _ **Unyielding, Unfettered, Unbent, and Unbroken. This is the Promise of the**_ **Staín** _ **, Forged in Steel and cast into the Shape of Men, this promise will be kept until Death takes it from us,**_ " I intoned, the sound of my own voice sounding foreign in the Old Tongue, resounding with an echo about the street like Nan's had when she said it. It was part of the reason why she had told me never to speak the old tongue, because those who were listening always heard it.

But I had, for the first time in technically twelve years, and I had managed to recite the Family Creed word for word, managing to say it for the first time in years without getting a little teary eyed.

I was however surprised by the Notifications popping in front of my face when the words stopped echoing unnaturally.

* * *

 **Spell Learned; [Purge], Level 1! Stat Requirements 60 Res and 60 Int [Bypassed by Mantra].**

 _ **Speak thee the words of the divine and the World shall listen!**_

 **Costs 2000 Ap [Bypassed by Mantra].**

 **-Remove (Lvl)% of Target's Debuff, (2*Lvl)% when cast upon yourself.**

 **-Targets gain (Lvl*10)+(Int*10) Hp regen per Second, (Lvl + Res/4) Second Duration.**

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Novice Mage]!**

 _ **Baby's First Spell!**_

 **-Learned first Spell.**

 **Rewards; [Spell Compendium] and +500 exp.**

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Pumpkin Eater]!**

 _ **That's Hax yo.**_

 **Bypass the Cost of a Spell by learning the Magical Mantra!**

 **Rewards; + 500 Exp.**

* * *

Looking with wide eyes through the pale blue screens to where my hand rested on Taylor's shoulder, where the Faint Steel gray outline of my Aura was still visible while the faint Yellow-Orange hue of hers was now fading away, I could still feel the place where the contact had been between the two. My eyes shot over to meet the equally wide eyes of Taylor as she stared at me as well, and I was stupefied into silence by the happenings.

Taylor was not.

"Austin," She began slowly as her right hand moved to her collar and unzipped her Sweatshirt. I let go of her and hopped back, but she ignored me in favor of pulling her left arm loose and then pulling her sleeve up to reveal the Bandage that I had correctly guessed was hiding there. Without hesitation she ripped the stained red cloth that had been wound around her arm from elbow to shoulder to reveal marred flesh beneath, but that was quickly knitting itself together like mine did, leaving behind nothing. Even the faint scarring left behind when Aura healed wounds was absent, only the lack of tan being evidence of the wound.

We watched in stunned silence until it was fully healed, which took twelve seconds, I counted, before she looked back up at me with a confused but ultimately pleased look on her face, "Did you just heal me?" She poked at the flesh as she took a step towards me, which I mirrored with a step backwards. My back hit the wall of the building and she stepped into my space with an air of wonder around her as she stared at me like the mythical unicorn that I certainly felt like, " _ **With Magic?**_ "

I looked around, finding no witnesses and no reason to lie, and smiled broadly, the feral smile I owned coming to the forefront as I realize just what this meant.

Austin Staín, Remnant's most violent White Mage, at your service.

 _...I wonder if there's a Spell that'll teach me how to whistle?_

* * *

 _End of Chapter, End of Arc_.

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 24: 1475/2400 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 57934/57934 HP Regen: 1282 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 2067/2067, Stm Regen: 84 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 9696/9696, Ap Regen: 242 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level; [259/1050]; Natural Stress Relief; 1 per Minute.**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (145) 155**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 50**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (188) 201**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 9**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 102**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 1070**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 41028**

 **Pistol Atk: 303**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 327 Damage.**

 **Mag; 20 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** _ **you**_ **don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Fast Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate a fourth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, half of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach];** _ **Hard heads Prevail!**_

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

 **[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.5+50) to (Str*3.75+50).**

 **[Destiny Breaker]**

 _ **The Chains that Bind will be severed, and I shall be the shearing force.**_

 **-200 Luck.**

 **(100 - Luck)% chance to Break [Curses] and [Blessings] applied to you.**

 **[Marked; [Subjects of Prophecy]]; All of those within the affected Group shall recognize you as [Chainbreaker], with the potential to be hostile.**

 **?**

* * *

 _Woof, what a Chapter I had to write for this one._

 _I don't know if it has been obvious, but ever since the first chapter I've been trying to put less and less emphasis on the Game itself with more and more on the world-building and Characterization, with the Game only making itself known in times of peace and isolation, as Austin has nothing else to do. He never seeks out to use the Game, and if he does it is either to improve and understand something or to fuck around. And, unlike in the few other Gamer stories that have their own plots (The Games We Play and Shinobi: the RPG come to mind) there is a heavy emphasis on the Game system._

 _I don't intend to do that._

 _The Gamer is a medium of growth, nothing more nothing less, unbiased and naturally unhelpful. It is up to Austin to Grow and become better, not the System. The Game will not change for him to make it easier or harder, if there is an exploit it will congratulate him for finding it and let him be. If he doesn't understand something, it will not clarify. Even Fenrir doesn't have access to all the information._

 _In regards to Reviewers, To the Guest who asked me to update, Boom. Consider it done._

 _To the Guest with the idea about Skill Chains and Hp Costs, you have to remember that almost all Hp costs come from either Adrenaline rush converting Hp into Stamina to use as Ammo or from Physics. He isn't just hitting things very hard, there is always an equal and opposite hit that he takes as well, but he does have that nice 80% reduction to physical damage to think about._

 _In general, Leave a review as always if you have anything to say, even if it is just to say Hi._

 _Alright, that's my piece said._

 _Jericho Out._


	31. Level 3: Part 1

_Interlude A_

* * *

The smell of the wooden walls mixed with the smell of the barely held together Garden of desert flowers that floated through the open window behind the large varnished desk. The dark wood of the walls, floor and desk seemed to absorb the small bit of afternoon light that streamed in with it. Eight students stood arrayed in a semicircle in front of the desk, waiting patiently behind their two teachers who had turned in their reports. The only sounds in the Headmaster's Office were the turning of pages as Janette and Mr. Gibraltar looked through the reports, and the ten other people in the room waited for them to finish.

Colton for his part stood silently going through the rather detailed report with his scrutinizing gaze, ignoring how much his boss was invested in the words she was reading. Janette looked up every other sentence with some new expression on her face as she looked at the teens flabbergasted and unable to string together a logical sentence. Colton decided that he'd take over and stepped forward and placed the packet of pages on the Desk.

"At least you survived," he announced to the sheepishly smiling Hunters-in-training, "I hope you learned something from all of this. Anyone care to share?" he questioned as he looked between their faces.

Looking furtively around Shebul cleared his throat and responded glumly, "Avoid Austin at all costs."

That was a fair point.

Not that he could say that aloud.

"That's not what-" Colton tried to wave off the accusation that it was his classmates fault entirely, for he had performed well beyond expectations and not even full fledged Huntsmen could be expected to have dealt with the situation presented to them, before he was interrupted by another Student.

"Sometimes losing is all you're good for," came the depressed voice of young Miss Donlevy as she grimaced about her apparently poor performance during the Invasion. She had been on the mend longest out of any of the students, having taken a rather hefty shot to the head during the fight, and the situation had grated on her nerves and will.

He mirrored her expression before attempting to rally, "Sometimes you are incapable of winning, and you must take steps to simply survive and do better next time," And wasn't this the hardest lesson for him to teach. Often his students were confident in their abilities and went out into the world only to find themselves wanting or having been caught unaware.

This wasn't what had happened to Team TESL; they had been able to react in time, and to their fullest ability. They had simply been up against enemies better equipped and stronger than them, and there was very few cures for that beyond acceptance and progress. Sometimes others outclassed you, and all you could do was train until they no longer did.

That wasn't a pill easily swallowed.

"Information isn't the end all be all of a fight," grit out the disappointed Luca, whose Blonde locks fell in front of his eyes as he obviously reminisced on the fact that despite knowing exactly what his enemies were doing and planning he was unable to stop it. Much like his mother had been back when they had been at the School so long ago, so reliant on his Semblance to the point of obsession. From what Colton could gather, Luca seemed incapable of turning it off. Not in the technical sense, he had the ability, but in the mental sense.

Fear of being blindsided, fear of the unknown, and fear of inadequacy; that he was only where he was because of it. All of these stopped him from letting go of his crutch. A lesson that his Teammate Shebul had only begun to learn mere months ago upon his defeat at the hands of his own semblance. Taylor looked to be handling it the best of them, but unfortunately was not temperamentally built for supporting others. Rowdy and cunning, she was able to figure out what she had done wrong and had pestered Miss Mourie into helping her overcome the hurdle. Just too prickly to reach out and help her teammates through the same process.

"Mining towns are made of explosives," Came the robotic tones of the Bespectacled Roman as he stared out the window in his perceived boredom, but what after years of dealing with him Colton could identify as Uneasiness. He stood with his hands hidden behind him, but if he looked hard enough he could see how they moved as he wrung them together. He wanted to be gone, away from Team TESL most likely. Leave them to pull themselves back together.

"Uh…" Cosma twirled her fingers around each other as she stared at the front of the desk. Colton noted the traces amounts of Ash and smudge on most of her clothes that suggested harder work than she was used to, or that he was used to seeing from her. Popping out from her ever present satchel was her Bowler hat, now covered in the same layer of silt and dirt as the rest of her outfit.

To say that he had been concerned about her going out into active combat, for unlike almost every other student of his she had not come into the Program with experience with Violence, Grimm or otherwise. She had grown noticeably from only four months being truly in the program, not in stature or musculature as she was still worryingly small, but definitely in maturity and confidence. With it came a wariness that had been absent before, a newfound importance of awareness obvious in how she held herself and twitched at any change near her. Not that she looked like she was doing it on purpose, but even unconscious awareness of danger was enough to soothe his fear.

Her Partner, of course, was still as Calm and Composed as ever, always looking ready for whatever was coming his way with a measured response, though he too looked more at ease in his skin than he could remember seeing him. Willing to let others cover his shortcomings.

Ashley still held the same sway over her peers, and was still the same cool and stand-offish young lady he had watched grow up, but there was an underlying pride when she looked at those around her when she was sure no one noticed. She silently preened underneath the shocked gaze of her mother and she stood a little straighter than he thought was necessary.

She enjoyed being their leader, or perhaps being the leader of something _powerful_ , too much.

It was obvious from the reports of last month's Fiasco and the month spent with Raul that this was growth borne from necessity, and they had managed to rise to meet their challenges with gusto and had grown from it. The issue being that they seemed to be growing into something… Uncontrollable. Untamable. Janette may not have had an issue with that, but Colton had seen Teams like that before, and they never seemed to end well.

No happily ever afters. No riding off into the sunset. Only bloody deaths.

His eyes passed to the last student, and was unsurprised to find the bright red eyes staring steadily back at him. Austin smiled his crooked smile at him and shrugged, as though to say " _What did you expect?_ " before giving his own once over of his classmates. It was the same gaze of a predator in his mind, which he hoped was only a side effect of his eye color, that swept across his Students, assessing them in much the same way; picking apart the weak links and detailing what would need to be done. A skill not often found in Students without relevant Semblances, and one definitely surprising to find in a Bruiser like Him.

But it was there nonetheless, quickly and effectively picking apart and then formulating a conclusion from a simple once over.

Red eyes swept up from their survey and met his and in them he spied the resolute promise of support in them. They had him on their side, all seven of them. He couldn't quite shake the feeling that they would be needing it.

In under a second Colton realized that Despite what usually happened on normal teams, where the Leaders encourage their teammates to improve and then utilized their assets properly, the situation with Team ACRA was in an odd reverse. Through the correct amount of danger, protection, and encouragement, the Team required the Leader to rise to the occasion to climb higher than most of those that had come before them.

Clapping his hands in front of him to still the students as they milled about in the office, "As long as you got some type of lesson from it, I'll consider it a net positive. Dismissed," He announced with a wave of his hands towards the door, "Get some rest, you deserve it. I'll see you tomorrow for Class, understood? Rainart, Mourie, you're dismissed as well."

A round of responses sounded as nine of the ten left the room, leaving only the Headmaster, him and Austin, who immediately shuffled forwards and slapped a bundle of papers onto the Desk. He unfurled them to reveal a map of Atlas, with Markings scrawled across the south western Quadrant labeling what seemed to be ranges denoted by circles and while dashed trails crisscrossed the area. "I have a request," He stated with his familiar lack of beating around the bush, "Next Month I need to go to Atlas, preferably near this Area," He stabbed the weathered paper with a meaty finger, "I have something I need to do there."

"And if we send you anywhere else?" Colton asked while Janette scoured the Map on her desk with interest.

"You want me to answer that honestly?" He asked casually, knowing full well what Colton knew would be his answer, "I'll go anyways." Would this be the day that Janette pushed back on the impudent Teenager? If he would have his way, then yes, Janette would send him to the southernmost point of Mistral just to prove a point, but this was Janette, who had decided to treat Austin like her own child for all intents and purposes.

Green eyes behind glasses peered down intently as she observed the Map before she looked up with a slight smile, "It could be arranged." Colton shot his eyes over to her, wondering if she was actually just cave to the young man, but saw that she had finally collected herself from the Reports that they had been given. She was much more stable and grounded than before, and was once more the responsible Headmaster that she had grown into over the years. "But I'll need to know why, of course. Can't have you and your Team running off to galavant without good reason, after all," And behind the eyes of the kind woman he could see the piercing stare of a Teacher trying to puzzle out their student.

"Gonna find Cosma's Sister," He replied bluntly, thumping a finger on the Paper once more with finality, "And that's where she was taken. Seems like the place to start," he finished with an easy shrug. Colton winced as he recalled what had transpired in the Town of _Halvoen_ ten years ago. Wall breached by Raiders, four dead, and two children Missing. Not an uncommon story, but no less tragic for it.

"The School can't afford to send you somewhere for free, and Atlas is the only Academy we don't have a partnership with," Janette responded, before holding up a hand to stop the response that was waiting for her, "Let me see what Requests are like in the area, and if there is enough to warrant sending a team. Give me until the end of the month," She took off her glasses and rubbed at her eyes at the thought of more work, and Colton felt like mimicking her.

"Fair enough," Austin returned after a moment of contemplation, "But don't push yourself too hard for me. I already figured out a way to give you a reason to send me to Atlas _and_ make it look legit for the Board."

Janette stared at him hard before giving in to morbid curiosity, "And how exactly would you go about that?"

"Call in a bunch of favors for people at the SDC to go put in requests all around Atlas, like a sudden massive increase in Grimm Activity, to light a fire under Atlas' ass," He spoke clearly, with very little mind for the words coming out of his mouth. In fact, he was treating international manipulation like it were a nuisance or possibly a joke.

Janette seemed taken by the idea, leaning forward in her seat and eyes blazing as she stared at the young man in front of her desk.

It was an odd thought that _Austin_ of all people had favors with higher ups in one of the Largest Companies on Remnant, but Colton knew exactly how much Lien had been riding on Sahili. Not to mention the fact that he had somehow managed to wrangle tuition out of the SDC in the first place, as well as getting a recommendation from The Sterling Commander of Vacuoan SDC Defense Forces, Klein Spietzel himself. Colton had actually thought that the recommendation had been forged when he had first received it, pitting the two Children from the Wilds against two of his most formidable students as a test.

That they had passed wasn't enough to shake him from his thoughts, serving only to create more fanciful narratives of test subjects or spies. Thoughts which he had kept up until he had received a call from the Commander, asking for those two specifically to come to Sahili to defend it. Colton had decided then that maybe the two were legitimately extremely talented brats from the Wilds who had simply wanted to be students, despite the bizarre evidence to the contrary.

Janette's gears were whirring as she thought out the ramifications of his rather simple plan, before speaking clearly to the rest of the Room, "And then, when they are inevitably unable to allocate enough resources to deal with dozens of Reported Grimm Sightings that seem to be unlocatable, we reach out and offer to send a team or two their way as support to roam the most affected region, if they're willing to pay the standard rates."

He shrugged, "And I'm sure anybody with a brain in the SDC would be for the plan, because any massive movement of Atlesian troops or resources requires Dust. And Atlas, from what I remember, has always had and will always continue to have a morale problem with its people, so they will need to make a show of strength even if all the claims are fake as hell, just to stop the Grimm from actually breaking down their Gates from the emotions that come along with a nice fat political backlash," A feral smile appeared on his face as he rubbed his hands together, like he was fulfilling some life long goal, "And that means that Atlas is forced out of their vaunted walls to help the rest of their people instead of leaving them to fight for themselves in their villages and towns. Which means, if I extort people to go around with requests of about a thousand Lien to be centered in the South-West, I can inspire Confidence in the Atlesian Military, protect the Outskirt Towns, and point out that its in the SDC's interest to protect non-SDC Towns for their bottom line," He barked a hearty laugh as he laid out what was, for all intents and purposes, a criminal masterplan. "The only ones who will be on the short end of this are the Atlesian Military, who'll have to get off their asses and do their jobs. Probably stop the Brass from gettin' massive bonuses, because fuck those guys. And what are they gonna do if they figure out what happened? _Not_ send their Troops? I fuckin' dare 'em."

Colton would never admit it out loud, but he was extremely impressed with his Student's Critical thinking and problem solving on this issue, as he could very obviously see his fingerprints in the plan. The lack of subtlety and forthrightness coupled with a total disregard for trying to attempt to keep the plan under the table.

 **After all, why try for the stealthy approach when an explosion would do?**

He leaned over the desk on his arms, looming over the Headmaster with a satisfied smile on his face, "And then there was the fact that there were always Grimm to be fought, so would it even be a lie to flood Atlas with reports of Grimm? Just giving Huntsmen a reason to fight in those specific places, right?"

Most definitely his barebones idea, but there were obvious influences on the plan, a covering of the bases that he would usually be unconcerned with. A lot of thought put into making it appear appealing to all involved. "How long did it take for Roman and Ashley to come up with this?" Colton asked, hiding his proud smile like the Stoic that he was. Because despite what it was being used for, it would seem that his lessons in Strategy were being utilized.

"Cosma helped too, though she was mostly there to spin the positive effects," He retaliated with the same smile on his face as he stepped back from the desk, "But all in all, it took about three hours and two and a half pizzas to put it all together. Roman even suggested that the SDC be persuaded to go out and find unreported incidents that went without requests due to lack of funds as opposed to just making them up, so that they could spin it like some giant goodwill PR Campaign. We tried to cover our bases."

"Three hours?" Janette muttered in a state of shock as she stared ahead, probably internally torn between pride and despair over the monster of a Team that she had personally crafted, tearing apart the tenuous peace that had fallen over the world since the last Faunus Wars.

"And the best part was that we already ran this by Hermann and Spietzel while we were in Sahili," He continued on without hesitation despite the looks he was receiving, "And their Boss already gave it the Green light! So, just keep an eye on the Reports from Atlas and a hand on your Scroll because their Boss said he'd contact you personally," He threw over his shoulder as he turned to walk out of the room, "Be on the lookout for the poor schmuck's name, it's like Jack or something. See ya tomorrow in Class, Mr. G!"

The Door slammed closed behind him, leaving only two stunned adults behind in silence.

Janette reached a shaking hand to her Scroll, dialing in a number before shakily speaking into the Receiver, "Raul, Bring some wine and Glasses to my Office, I-I'm feeling a little under the weather."

Colton immediately turned to the door to go to his desk, unable to do anything but agree with the sentiment, "I'll grab my Whiskey."

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

There was a skip in my step as I exited the Dormitory with a smile on my face. I hopped down the small set of stairs to the Sand covered Sidewalk that surrounded the Courtyard, my ears twitching as **[Instinct]** clued me in to the goings on around Campus, but I extended my senses past the shock of Sound and smells amid dead sand to find… Nothing.

No movement, no noise, and no smell that stood out for over a Mile. I activated **[Overclock]** to extend the Range even further, but even then there was nothing. I turned to the side to spit out the blood that pooled in my mouth from the technique and when I looked up I only found a slightly cloudy day with the sun beating down to lessen the stinging winds of the Frozen sands, as even in the middle of a Spring afternoon it was chilly. All in all, it was looking to be a pretty chill day.

I was immediately suspicious of this turn of events.

I narrowed my eyes… At nothing. There was nothing to be suspicious of. I could look at the small group of elementary school students chasing after a ball in the Courtyard, diligently avoiding the Garden that was slowly filling with desert flowers and Tundra bushes. There was Clair, the pleasant cleaning lady who doubled as the gardener who keith continued to make ineffectual passes at every weekend and then complain about it every Monday, who was tilling the Freshly fertilized soil and transplanting from pots to plots and watching to make sure none of the children had a spill.

The kindly lady brushed her pale blonde hair over her shoulder before smiling when she saw me and waving. I returned it with a smile, and walked past her towards the Combat Arena while keeping my eyes open. My eyes darted to the left as the doors to the Cafeteria opened and saw only one of the teams from the year above mine, but much like in regards to the teams I didn't interact with in my year I had no clue who these people were. If they hadn't passed by me multiple times while armed I would have assumed they were custodial staff.

The only thing that I knew about them was that they shared the general attitude of the Academy down fucking pat, sneering down their noses at me as they passed as though that were some testiment to their superiority, but all I saw were children playing at being adults. They were all around level thirty, as most of the Upper class students seem to plateau around.

Unfortunately for them, stupid shit like their fucking power trips didn't really matter to me, someone who had never even interacted with people for the first sixteen and a half years of my life outside of fighting. Either you fought for something or you didn't, all this posturing gave me indigestion. So I bared my teeth and activated **[Project Bloodlust]** with a deep growl that rattled in my chest. The four jumped as the skill hit them and they picked up their pace to get out of my sight.

I turned it off with a Scoff once I heard the Door to the Dorm close behind them and yanked open the Door to the Combat building. I made my way down the annoyingly Bright hallway, my heavy footfalls resounding off the walls as I reigned in my senses to a manageable level. Without what Roman had termed as my "Battle Fugue" to help sift through relevant information **[Instinct]** was becoming overwhelming at its current level.

* * *

 **Instinct, Level 24 (Tier 2), [Grimm/Faunus] Skill.**

 _ **My eyes are only one of five senses I can use, so why rely on just one?**_

 **(Passive) Detection: 120% chance of detecting (increase to Passive 30%) [Stealthed] Units.**

 **(Active) Detection*(1+.5*Level) = *13, move at ½ Movement Speed while Active. If still, double the effect.**

 **Base Range = 240 feet.**

 **Senses: Hearing, Smell/Taste.**

* * *

It was sitting at over half a mile without any added bonuses on active, and even when it was turned off I was looking at two hundred and forty feet of sensory information to deal with. I may be many things, but multitasking isn't really one of them. Actually, my specialty was the exact opposite, taking one process to its ultimate end or innovation. So to say that having Sonar built into my head was distracting was an understatement.

It was the only reason I was lad that I had ended up in the middle of a desert instead of a city.

All I could hope for was that the next Upgrade that the Skill underwent didn't make the radius even larger. That would be unbearable.

As the edges of my senses finally came back to the passive range I felt much more centered and at ease. The muscles in my neck actually loosened in response to the action, so it wasn't even entirely mental. I began to stretch for whatever lesson Mr. G was sure to impart upon us today, but stopped about twenty feet from the door when a cold shiver worked its way down my spine. I stood up stock straight as the feeling came over me, like I had been lightly electrocuted and chilled at once, and I heard what could only be described as whispers at the barely audible range of my impressive hearing. I whirled around to search the corridor for whatever was the source when a notification popped in front of my face.

* * *

 **Status Effect [?] Resisted!**

* * *

My eyes danced along the corridor, and even though I found nothing, I could feel my hackles rising in response to the unseen attack. The Bland cinderblock walls reflected the light, and held very little in the way of decoration or ornament, so there was very little to steal my attention. I kept my eyes locked on the far end of the hallway as the ambient temperature returned to normal, waiting for something to change.

My eyes narrowed as something… transparent passed in front of the Window in the Door that led outside. Wispy and blue… Ethereal. Once more it floated by as though carried along by some meandering wind, before it passed _through_ _the fucking door_ in a puff of frost. I stepped back, entirely unaware of what the hell I was looking at, and it seemed to take that as an opportunity to strike. The nearly invisible ball of Blue air swirled towards me like a bullet fired from a gun. I held my hands up in front of my face like I warding off a particularly annoying gnat as it zoomed closer-

" _ **There you are!**_ " I was startled as the Doors exploded open behind me and my blazing Partner appeared in the portal. Her Ashen gray hair was out of its normal ponytail today, but the fire in her eyes was still visible behind her glasses. I spun around with a _manly_ yelp and hopped back on one foot with my hands flailing. Her uniform wearing self gave me a stern look as I shot a look over my shoulder to confirm that the thing wasn't actually there, before scowling at the quickly fading frost still on the Door down the Hall.

I growled in irritation at the events and began to look back to Ashley, but was caught off guard as her superheated fingers dug into my ear, a technique she had inherited from her Mother and adapted to bypass **[Iron Skin]**. "You're late, and we can't start the lesson until everyone's there, so _hurry up_. Honestly, you're like a toddler with superpowers."

As we entered the Stadium Cosma poked her head out over the railings at the edge of the Seatings that overlooked the place that had been carved out for the Entrance, pointing down at us with mock outrage, "How dare you! I resemble that Remark!"

Roman huffed a sigh from behind her as he reclined in the seatings, and grumbled under his breath, "Yes you do."

Mr. G nodded in our direction in his usual manner, and I noted peripherally the stack of Books to his right and a Box that was opened at his feet, before addressing the class at large, "And with the last Straggler brought in to the Mix we can begin…" He proceeded to ramble on, but I was still on Defcon two from _whatever the hell had happened in that Hallway_. I blocked out whatever he was talking about and focused on what I could hear, only to find that it was eerily normal despite what I had witnessed. I darted my eyes around the Bleachers, observing the rather relaxed posture of those around me and no one truly concerned with me. On my last straw for gathering information I took in a big whiff of the air in the room, before promptly gagging on the strong odor that permeated the Room.

 _Why the hell did it smell like-?_

"Puppies!" Cosma Squealed as Mr. G reached into the Box at his feet and picked up one by its scruff.

 _Oh nooooo._

"Your task as a Team for the rest of the Semester is to care for your assigned Dog and raise it to become the honorary Fifth Member of your team. Each of these dogs were abandoned, but with the right amount of care any dog can become a powerful ally," He explained as the tiny thing in his hand simply panted happily from its position. I could do very little except facepalm as a chorus of coos and other excited noises erupted amongst the sixteen members of our Class, with Even Roman smiling at the pitiful little mongrel as it wagged its tail happily at the Class, "This is a task designed to simulate what it is like escorting a weak or injured person without the potentially deadly Consequences. You will also train the Hound to assist you on missions eventually. This will help you understand the fragility and lack of training of most Civilians in comparison to Huntsmen, as well as give you a good idea of what to expect in the field during Rescue missions gone wrong. Dog Food will be provided and supervision during your next monthly Excursion will be suggested as opposed to bringing a two month old dog into live combat."

After a moment of surveying my surroundings to decide that my experience in the Hallway wasn't going to have a repeat performance, I decided to focus on the current situation at hand. Wisps could be dealt with later, or never, depending on convenience. I leaned over to Ashley as she feigned disinterest in what he was saying and whispered to her as I looked over the gathered people, "No one seems overly surprised. This a normal thing around here?"

"It's a well known Tradition, in fact," She informed me, her hand flickering up to brush some of her hair behind her ear to hear me better and half turned in place so as to not appear distracted but still give me some of her attention, "When the Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youths was founded A team of Huntsmen weren't considered complete unless they had a Hunting Dog with them. Generally non-Combatants trained in Stress Relief and Search and Rescue tactics, they were more valuable than most Huntsmen back then. Beacon and Shade used to do this as well, but now we're the only Academy that still does it. The Dogs stay with the Team basically until they die."

The Team was getting a Dog.

This wasn't going to go well.

" **Focus!** " Mr. Gibraltar shouted to regain control of the Class, earning a chorus of pitiful whimpers from the Cardboard box at his feet, "Your enthusiasm should serve you well, But I still need your attention for at least ten minutes. We're going in the order of attendance, whichever team had all members in class first, chooses first," A very roundabout way of saying that he was punishing my team, "When you come up here, Your Leader will pick one of Four Dogs and we'll discuss what I think you should begin Training him to do. Team ORCD, please come down and choose the Dog you wish to Raise."

I watched in dawning Horror as the team chose a rather plump labrador and were given a Book after a moment of deliberation with Mr. G, and began internally panicking. "Uh," I began haltingly with a wince, "This is mandatory?" I questioned pleadingly.

Ashley shot me an odd Look as Team TESL Walked towards the Stage, her eyes narrowing as she processed my words, "Yes, it's basically a Course Grade by itself," I grimaced at that, which seemed to catch the Attention of Roman as he leaned forward, while Cosma was busy gushing about the _Cute wittle Puppies_.

"Is that a problem?" he questioned as Luca Pulled out a Bulldog that looked like a fifty year old man that had reincarnated improperly. Taylor snickered as Shebul gave a lazy thumbs up to the choice, while Emily rambled on to explain why that was the best of the choices, and Luca tried not to look perturbed by the amount of slobber on the poor thing. I was given a momentary reprieve by the momentary flash of confusion on Mr. G's Face before he schooled his face back into the mask of the perfect teacher, but the reality of the situation soon returned.

I looked to our left to where ORCD had situated themselves, nearly fifty feet away from us, and could already make out the shaky thing that passed as an animal staring holes into my head as her new owners fawned over her, but she only had eyes for one thing in the Bleachers. I scooted away from them, just to be sure the little demon didn't hop out of their hands and charge me, which caught the Attention of Cosma as I nearly knocked her over the railing.

She squawked but caught herself, turning to me with a scowl, "Watch yourself there- _Oh look at its little face!_ " A scowl that immediately evaporated as she spied the fat little terror staring at me. She was mewling and squirming as she was passed around Team ORCD, obviously straining to make her way towards me.

 _This… wasn't looking good._

"Team NOVA! Your turn," Mr. G called as Taylor hauled the slobbery monstrosity up the Bleachers towards us, and my teeth bared instinctually as the little thing approached, already actively trying to be dropped and run towards me. Taylor gave me an odd look as I maintained eye contact with the Puppy in her hands, before the thing began yelping and shrilly barking at me which startled everyone in the bleachers.

"Uh, Sorry, sorry," Emily Apologized as she snatched the Dog from Taylor and smushed its face into her Jacket in an uncharacteristic show of allowing her clothes to be dirtied. The thing calmed a bit with the action as she sat down and began rocking it back and forth.

Taylor gave the thing a dirty look before drawing the connection and turned to me. Before she could comment on it the Lab began to Bark and howl at me as well, which caused the Bulldog to start up once more, followed soon by the long and awkwards looking greyhound that the Cunt Davis had chosen, and then whatever horror was waiting for our team still in the box, even as whatever the tiny thing was tried to hop and get out of its prison.

And the three barking Puppies were all glaring at me and struggling to get at me.

"Yeah," Roman spoke with finality as our entire Team stood as one, "That could be considered a Problem."

"Can we grab the thing and get out of here?" I called out to Mr. G, who stared wordlessly up at me before simply nodding amidst the sounds of four puppies braying for blood. I carefully took the route that allowed me to stay as far away from the other teams and their new charges as possible, and my Team quickly made their own way to the Stage without me.

"This is a first for me," Mr. Gibraltar told Ashley, speaking louder to be heard over the animals. He looked at me with pity as I walked up, but I simply sighed in defeat. Cosma was smitten with whatever was in the box, so it wasn't even a debate at this point. The Small girl grabbed the thing and held it above her head like a baby doll, which allowed me to get a good look at the Hellhound that was bound to make my life a living hell.

 **[?]**

 **[Level 1** **Stuffawler** **Pup]**

 **[Strong like Bull]**

The thing had a head that was a third the size of its body, which was an impressive feat considering that it was the size of the other three Puppies put together. It gave out a warning growl as its paws struggled for purchase on Cosma's forearms, with little triangles for ears that were standing at attention as its Beady brown eyes locked on to me. I sighed, as experience created the premonition before it even moved, but simply watched blearily as it succeeded and launched itself off of her and soared through the air, like a heat seeking Missile aimed for my face.

Animals had always hated me.

Birds chose me to shit upon as opposed to statues or cars. One particularly hateful Fox had stolen my socks off of my Feet when I had been hiking. I was charged by deer on the same trip, and had left the _fight_ with scarring from hooves on my forearms that were still there today. I was jumped by a Mongoose once when leaving my job at Food Gazelle back on the Mount.

Mongoose don't even live on the continent of Sanus.

Everything in Nature seemed to agree that I was on their Shit list. And Dogs were no exception.

My hands came up and caught it, my Strength easily overpowering its own barely an inch from my nose where the thing proceeded to try to maul my face, succeeding in only covering my face in a fine layer of spittle. I pushed it back into Cosma's Arms and took a step back as the rest of the Team quickly wrapped up the Process, and grimaced at the Notification that popped upon their completion.

* * *

 **Quest Received; [Dog Days]!**

 _ **Ya know, there is something to be said about being the UnderDog!**_

 **-Raise [?(Your Nemesis)] to Level 10 by the end of the year!**

 **-Achieve [Trusted] Status with [?(Your Nemesis)] by the end of the Year!**

 **-Teach [?(Your Nemesis)] by the end of the year; Sit, Stay, Heel, and Sic.**

 **Rewards; Increased Relationship with [?(Your Nemesis)], Increased Relationship with Team ACR(A), and +1000 Exp.**

* * *

I ignored the sympathetic looks I was receiving and stared ahead with mulish determination.

First Ghosts, and now a new mortal enemy that I had to potty train. I took in a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I had fought armies and won. What was some furball?

 _I'd make this dog my friend if it killed me._

"Maybe he's just curious…?" Cosma tried to rationalize the demonspawn's behavior, bringing it closer to me against all logic. So hopeful, so Naive.

The thing took and opportunity to piss on my Boot.

* * *

 **Trait Received; [Pack Animal]!**

 **\- (-50)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses below [Trusted (Level 3)].**

 **\- (+100)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses above [Trusted].**

* * *

 **Mechanic unlocked; [Relationships]!**

 _ **By furthering a Bond to a certain level You unlock certain Character Specific quests, by way of**_ **Being a good friend.** _**Every interaction is either labelled positive, Neutral, or Negative, and Points are added or subtracted based on this.**_

 _ **This is some fuckery, Boss, it's itemizing your Pack's Trust in you. Like, Actual Magic this time and everything.**_

 _ **...Also, this stuff is determined by Charisma, so You're fucked.**_

* * *

 **Current Relationship Modifier per action; (Cha) pts; 1 pt per interaction.**

 **Overall [Team ACR(A)]; [Innate Trust (Level 6)] 1378/2000**

 **[Ashley Charbon]; [? (Level 6)] 3396/4000**

 **[Cosma Politan]; [Trusted (Level 4)] 540/750, [Character Quest Ongoing!]**

 **[Roman Torchwick]; [Trusted (Level 4)] 502/750**

 **[Austin** **Staín]; [You (Level 0)] 0/0 [Character Quest is Eternal!]**

 **[?(Your Nemesis)]; [Disliked (Level -2)] -145/-250**

 **Overall [Team TESL]; [Tolerated (Level 1)] 57/100**

 **[Taylor Chesterton]; [Close Friend (Level 5)] 784/1000**

 **[Emily Donlevy]; [Liked (Level 2)] 126/250**

 **[Shebul Al'Araid]; [Tolerated (Level 1)] 75/100**

 **[Luca Portatore]; [Liked (Level 2)] 105/250**

 **Overall [Vacuoan Academy for Gifted Youth]; [Neutral (Level 0)] 12/50**

… **.**

* * *

I stared in dismay as yet another mechanic rolled into my life to make it difficult. And a simple look at the Relationship between me and the Fucking puppy told me I had my work cut out for me.

Also, _what in the hell was that ducking thing in the Hall?_

I knew I had been right not to trust today. If I had the choice I'd start the thing over again and just not come to class.

...

* * *

 **[Not an Option, Boss.]**

* * *

Dammit. Guess I'm doing this the hard way.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **(** _ **[Mantra]: [**_ _Unyielding, Unfettered, Unbent, and Unbroken. This is the Promise of the_ **Staín** _, Forged in Steel and cast into the Shape of Men, this promise will be kept until Death takes it from us_ _ **.]**_ **)**

 **Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])**

 **Lvl 24: 1475/2400 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 57934/57934 HP Regen: 1282 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 2067/2067, Stm Regen: 84 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 9696/9696, Ap Regen: 242 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level; [259/1050]; Natural Stress Relief; 1 per Minute.**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (145) 155**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 50**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (188) 201**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 9**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 102**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 1070**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 41028**

 **Pistol Atk: 303**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 327 Damage.**

 **Mag; 20 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** _ **you**_ **don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Fast Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate a fourth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, half of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach];** _ **Hard heads Prevail!**_

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

 **[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.5+50) to (Str*3.75+50).**

 **[Destiny Breaker]**

 _ **The Chains that Bind will be severed, and I shall be the shearing force.**_

 **-20 Luck.**

 **(100 - Luck)% chance to Break [Curses] and [Blessings] applied to you.**

 **[Marked; [Subjects of Prophecy]]; All of those within the affected Group shall recognize you as [Chainbreaker], with the potential to be hostile.**

 **?**

 **-[Pack Animal]**

 _ **Familiarity is your comfort.**_

 **(-50)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses below [Trusted (Level 3)].**

 **(+100)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses above [Trusted].**

* * *

 _A not so serious Chapter to start off the not so serious Arc that is coming up._

 _The Introduction of the main conflict of the arc in the form of a young Pit Bull and the desire to make his friends happy by not making issues with the thing. Not to mention the universal agreement by animals to fuck the guy._

 _My poor Attempt at a Favor system that will coincide with the Main character's poor attempts at navigating it._

 _Expect the Next bit of story to read like a mixture of that stupid trope where Teenagers are forced to act like parents to a bag of flour for Home Ec. and the normal over the top amounts of violence that pops up in this story._

 _Also, What is the thing in the Hallway? At this point even I don't know._

 _In response to A recent Review that expressed a lack of understanding for How Austin Looks, I've decided to Post my description that I gave them in a Direct Message here for Consistency._

" _ **Austin stands about 187 centimeters tall (or six foot two) and weighs a good 147 kilograms (or 325 lbs) as he is a big boi made of muscle and bone. He's got Black hair with Patches of Grey hair peppered throughout due to scarring on his scalp, and has eyes the same colour as the Grimm (Most obvious point so far). Skin tanned to the point of looking and feeling like leather and Canines that are enlarged to a significant degree. He has bad posture and slouches over, which adds to the perceived bulkiness when people see him. Scarred to hell and back, and generally not your average looking man."**_

 _Also, There was a healthy amount of feedback on the last chapter, which was great._

 _Thanks for reading and reviewing, it means a lot to me that people are enjoying this. (This thing has 500 Followers and over 86000 views, which is insane to me.)_

 _Alright, that's my piece said._

 _Jericho Out._


	32. Level 3: Part 2

_Interlude A_

* * *

It was a cloudy night that descended on the Academy, with the Shattered Moon providing light in between the obstructions. The temperature fell like a stone to the point where unprotected flesh would be in danger and the Desert Flowers in the Courtyard curled in on themselves in an attempt to survive the night. Looming over the Campus like the Man made mountain that it was, the Old world Ruin that had served as the basis for the Academy's location stood as a sentinel into the long night.

An unnatural gust of wind sifted sand off of the sidewalk as it meandered about, passing by a couple as they huddled together and hurried off to their destination. A young boy caught up with it before continuing to run by, laughing up a storm as he was chased by another child. In the distance the shrill braying of young hounds pierced the heavens as they refused to be tamed as of yet.

Unseen and without impact a figure walked through the world, feet alighting upon sidewalk without a sound and without a trace. Invisible eyes watched those that would disgrace this slice of the world with their existences when he had been banished from life so callously by the universe. Had he the blood for it, he was sure it'd be boiling as he watched people falling to their baser instincts and succumbing to their desires in the night. He pushed off of the ground and floated towards the nearest building, recognizing it from his time in the living as the Teacher's Dorm.

As he passed quietly through the wall he found a lack of people and grimaced as he realized that they must have gotten around to building that new Dorm for the Hunter's Corps. A sneer descended over his pale blue face as he floated through the Dust covered dwellings, a building that he had personally requested, as it became more and more apparent of what those he left behind thought of him. He moved on and follows the faint trails of light that appeared behind people as they walked. He moved towards the nearest lady, one who he remembered personally teaching years ago.

Her name was Marsha, and she was a poor student, always picking at minute things and refusing to see the whole picture.

Even now she was intently gazing at her Scroll like the Child she still was. He floated in front of her and peered at the screen, unsurprised to find her reading as she went. One man that he didn't recognize tried to catch her attention, but even from afar it was obvious there would be no stealing her attention and he returned with a dejected sigh to the Food that he was carrying. Two portions of Dinner, he assumed, that would now go unshared.

How wasteful, squandering food and good will.

Not that he was surprised with the absolute state of the campus at large. No matter where he turned he found someone wasting what they had from the Management down to the Students. Opportunity after opportunity thrown away because of indulgence and vice.

And he was cursed to witness it all, without a way to change it. The only things that seemed to be able to see him were the _animals_ , and even then they were hostile. His hands phased through things, his words fell on deaf ears, and he was becoming more and more enraged the longer it went on.

He tried and tried to call to his soul, activate his semblance once more to guide this Shepherdless flock, but his soul was equally as blind to him as the people on campus were to him. He floated by a young man and his partner as they moved towards the Plaza, and angrily hissed all the vile thoughts he had about the situation as he slapped the boy across the cheek like he had used to discipline unruly students.

When his hand passed through the young man stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened, as though he felt the assault in some small way, and the line began to shift ever so slightly from a healthy yellow to the pale blue of his own Aura. A nasty smirk appeared on his face, before Barking erupted from behind him. He whipped around to find a Labrador puppy glaring balefully up at him, baring its teeth and barking once more.

Like a wave of force the sound knocked him away from the Students, and he beat a hasty retreat from the mangy thing. Couldn't be around them, the world seemed making that obviously clear, with the sound still bouncing around his skull, creating a mind-numbing pain.

He'd have to find a way around that pain to try what he had just done again, and figure out how to clean up _his_ campus.

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

"Could you hand me that rag Ocre?" Davis politely asked his Partner, who threw him the scrap of fabric without so much as a word. Not that he was offended at this point, because after four months he knew that it wasn't a snub so much as her version of being polite. Instead she continued to powder down her Katana before wiping it away with a rag of her own, and then repeating it. She sat peacefully on the crate across from him, and he felt the spike of jealousy that usually came as she stared lovingly down at the Sword.

 _Sennoha_ was always cleaned meticulously and kept sharp enough to cut through both Aura and a Man's Spinal Column in one sweep, and she relished the opportunity to prove it. Her Segmented and Plated armor was Handmade with Reed that he knew from years of existing near her came from a Forest behind her Family Home in Mistral. A forest that her Father and Uncle had trained her in with fervor ever since she had expressed an interest in following their footsteps, instilling discipline and duty alongside the importance of love and kindness. The Sword was a gift from her Uncle, and her Armor a gift from her Father. Both were symbols of her Family and their support.

He looked down at the Gun disassembled in front of him, one that he had built up over many years of work behind his Mother's Back. Trading things that he had for pieces and working until his hands bled for knowledge on how to assemble it. With practiced hands he grabbed each piece of his life's work, the only thing he could call his own, and wiped each one down before fitting it back together. Plates and springs fell into place until the unnamed rifle laid in his life, a monument to his own work. His lack of Support. He stared down at it with a scowl.

"How are Vain and Andrea doing? They were still asleep when I left this morning and they were gone when I got back from my run," He spoke as he worked down the stock with the rag, working out scuffs and scratches as best he could, before noting that he'd need to Order a new one. Maybe one with a bit of shock absorption.

Ocre looked up with a serene look on her face, reminding him once more that she saw this as some sort of meditation. She him a quick look while her hands continued working, "They're doing well. I even saw Andrea smile," She tilted her head as a look of contemplation came across her face, "I think. It is hard to tell with her. She may have been in pain for all I know. She needs to speak her mind and show it, or else no one will ever know what she needs."

Davis smiled at the words, content to know that they were safe. Happy even. He was glad to hear it, as he had been unsure of how they would take to him being their leader. The rest of the people he had called friends weren't in the Combat corps, and he hardly ever talked to them anymore. Simply more people he had misjudged, fallen by the wayside. He would not leave his people behind like them. He wanted the best for them, no matter how his life turned out, he wanted them to be better for his involvement.

"Last I heard they were training," He looked up from his Rifle and stared at her a bit of confusion and blinked at her words.

"It's Saturday," He said it like it explained everything, because to him it did. Those who were able to relax were supposed to do it on the weekend, while people that needed to work for their keep worked on weekends. That's what he was taught, that was what his mother told him. "Aren't they supposed to lay around, watch TV, or… something _fun_?" And he knew them, Training was not their version of Fun.

"Coming from you that means little," Ocre responded in kind, "Weekends to you just mean more time to train. Why do you behave this way?"

Davis turned back to his work, filling up a cartridge with Dust infused rounds quickly and efficiently, and despite knowing that she wasn't waiting for an answer the reasons sprung to life in his head.

 _He was four when his little sister was born, and he stood next to his dad, who has holding his little brother elijah in his arms, and watched as his Mother brought Rebecca into the house, already singing sweet nothing into her future Heiress' ears. From that day on he was tasked to work with those that worked around the house, while his siblings were allowed to play on the weekends. They watched TV, they played games, and they ran around outside while he washed dishes and swept the grounds. He was seven when his Mother said that he was to stop learning about the Family Business, Eight when he was reprimanded for asking about it, and Nine when she said outright that he would have no place in the Family Business. That while Elijah might make something of himself one day and Rebecca was the perfect Little Lady fit for the time honored Matrilineal position of head of the Nilah Family, he wasn't good enough to even work on an assembly line._

 _Too rough, too Honest, and Too naive. His Siblings weren't like that, polished and willing to lie even to her which she liked for some reason. He had been punished for failing, and then punished for being punished. He was taught that the only thing he could do right was protect his siblings if it ever came down to it, because they were more important. Rebecca was everything he wasn't; good at reading, good with numbers, and When their Mother asked her theoreticals involving decision making, she always went for the kill. But despite that, he knew her to be nice and generous, giving him sweets that Mother had brought from the city because she wanted him to taste them as well. Lied on his behalf sometimes as well, though he managed to convince her not to put herself in the line of fire for him._

 _And he could do nothing but watch as their mother taught her day in and day out about the benefits of unrest and upheaval, about the Rewards that lay underneath the surface of peace if you're willing to destroy enough things, enough people, to reach them._

 _He had silently disagreed, for who was he to say that she was wrong?_

 _But Order kept him alive and sane, he knew he was the worst and therefore at the bottom of the Hierarchy. That was how he justified the shit that was thrown his way. He had nothing to offer, so he shouldn't expect anything in return. How his mother could claim that chaos was her friend he had no idea, because without it Rebecca would be down in the muck just like him. And she didn't deserve that._

 _He was ten when he first discovered his one true talent, the one thing he was good at and could call his own. Not something bought, not something that could be taken away. Rebecca and Elijah both had a cold and neither couldn't come with their Mother to an event and he was picked as a last resort. He found himself in some wealthy investor's Backyard, trying not to fidget in his unfamiliar formal clothes, as his Mother played nice with the other business men and women, and he ended up being herded wide eyed into a shooting competition._

 _He had hit every Plate that the bizarre contraption flung, and he had barely missed a shot since. When he had asked his dad if he could go to the Academy when one of the Investor's suggested it, it had taken literal years to convince her that he was worth spending that much money on. In the end he was gladdened to hear that she had agreed, and left with goodbyes to Rebecca, Elijah, and his Father._

 _When he arrived he found people that knew nothing about how little he was worth and how hard he tried to be better, and only saw Davis. He wanted to see them grow, to become someone he could protect. He reacted with instinctual violence when someone threatened the system that kept his Sister safe, just as his mother had taught him to do. The boy who wanted nothing to do with the system was just as dangerous as those that actively challenged it, those that moved up the ladder without effort were to be seen as the enemy. He could see no world where that was fair, and therefore viewed them as having cheated in life. What was to say that they wouldn't cheat more and usurp Rebecca?_

 _He was heartbroken when he heard of the Bullhead crash later that year, but even more distraught was his mother._

 _Because he was now her only Heir._

"Habit," He grit out in response as the Memories threatened to consume him. Tears that would not fall stung his eyes but with expertise that only came with practice he pushed them back. His partner finally stopped cleaning her sword to give him a worried look, a look that he knew he would have no decent answer for. This was his burden to bear, and his responsibility to uphold. If his mother needed him to do something then it was his job to do it.

In this moment of weakness came a distraction, one that his Partner would be sure to deal with on his behalf while he composed himself.

Loud footfalls echoed down the hall as his nemesis clomped towards them, and as the Armory was the only room on this Hall, Davis knew that he'd be making his way here. The door rattled on its hinges as it flew open, and Ocre flinched when the Handle let out a _crunch_ under a meaty hand, before stilling as those Red Eyes zeroed in on her. Brown Skin, Grey hair, Scars, Teeth like a serrated knife; all of those superficial things that everyone seemed to focus on. But not Davis.

Austin was Free. Free from restraint, because there was very little that his peers could do to restrain him. Free from responsibility, because there was a small part of himself, _that he hated_ , that envied his lack of Family and lack of orders to follow. And, most importantly, Free to choose. He chose what he did, when he did it, and if people didn't like it they could get bent while he moved on with a smile. It was a lack of baggage and need to follow the rules that Davis _wanted_ and at the same time didn't want to exist.

Even Roman, Ashley, and brother's Forgive him for saying so, _Cosma_ had stepped up to the plate and become upstanding classmates. They had diligently become the best Huntsmen they could while Austin had casually become the most accomplished of them all without effort.

Davis hated him.

Austin gave Ocre his odd butchering of a smile before stepping inside and snagging a rag and a set of cleaning supplies before immediately turning on his heel and leaving. Davis kept the frown on his face long after his footsteps were gone.

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

It was with great Gusto that Cosma took to Caring for the Dog. This was increasingly funny as the thing weighed about half of what she did, and the only way she could pick up the rapidly growing Pup was with the application of Aura. This was also the only way that she could get the thing to do _anything_. The thing had a broad head and broad shoulders with the neck of a bull. Looked like it had been doing push ups since the day it was born, and with the amount of exercise it was getting with Cosma and the amount of food that it was given, and stealing when it thought no one was watching, it was not looking like it would stop growing anytime soon.

That was the reason that Cosma decided, without anyone else's input, that she was naming it "Tank". No one could really argue against it.

This in turn meant that I was looking to be the only one to effectively handle the thing, which had prompted the Team to try and help _me_ get along with _him_. As though I'm the one with the issue between the two of us. As of yet, he has not done anything but try to attack me. I still haven't figured out how to strengthen our **[Relationship]** as of yet, but I had a few ideas on the backburner.

On a more positive note, I wasn't the only thing that the mongrels yapped at, as there seemed to be one of the things barking somewhere on Campus at any given time, **[Instinct]** made me intimately aware of that. They enjoyed barking at birds, the cleaning ladies, and each other. Everytime two of the things met up they made an unholy amount of noise.

This was the challenge of my life, the antithesis to my being; challenges that couldn't be met with supreme force. Overdoing anything could end horribly for the thing, which I didn't want to happen to something that hadn't done anything wrong. This was also a challenge that couldn't be met with an immovable force. Standing still wouldn't help when Tank wouldn't take steps towards me himself. No, I'd have to find the exact amount of effort and the exact way to do it.

Finesse.

I was shaken from my thoughts when my **[Message]** page opened up in front of my face, and I was treated to the sight of more bad news that I was going to have to move past.

* * *

 **[From; Kelter.]**

 **[Subject; Re;[Dogs?]]**

 **[Nah, none of us have anything like that. We've all had dogs at some point in time, and Reedy has a Cat at the moment and she seems to like us fine. Sounds like a personal problem, so good luck with that!]**

* * *

I was just special.

 _ **Fuck**_.

I watched as the Shattered Moon climbed in the sky, steadily keeping note of my **[Skills]** Page with **[Exposure]** and **[Osteogenesis]** expanded so I could watch as they leveled up. Slowly but surely the cold tried to seep into my bones, and I steadfastly ignored it as best I could. Instead I watched and Listened as only I seemed to be able to do. I activated my **[Night-Vision]** and kept my focus on the Moon as opposed to the shaky breaths that wracked my body in the Cold Air. As I had found out rather recently, a rather good way to ignore the Heat or Cold was _Pain_.

I winced as the bones in my pointer finger fused together with a _snap_ , before immediately pulling it apart and resetting it to the proper position. The feeling of Metal sliding around underneath my skin, tearing apart muscle and sinew to replace it with my hardened bones was indescribable, for my limited use of language at least, but let me confirm that it created a great deal of _Pain_.

I had been out here doing this since Dinner when Ashley had scampered off to a Leader-Only Meeting while Cosma and Roman were busy with another Project. I had decided that since I had free time, which was something that I had a lot of due to not sleeping, I might as well try to flesh out a few of my skills. I decided that since it was the only skill that I had a bonus to experience gain as well as having a few blanks, might as well start there.

Seeing as I could heal and harden my bones fairly well at this point, so I might as well try to do something creative. I started out by simply activating the skill and letting the feeling _Healing_ take over my entire body without directing it anywhere simply to get a feel for it, before slamming down every bit of my control down on the energy that was flowing through my body. It bucked and resisted my Will, but if there was one thing that I was, it was persistent. After hours I had just managed to funnel the feeling to cover my right pointer finger, which absolutely vibrated from the experience.

I held my right hand in my left as I sat on the edge of the Dorm Roof, my legs dangling off of it as I sat vigilantly watching the Campus, wondering in between winces why no one ever looked up. Did they lack the same wonder that came with the Night sky that I did? Had they grown used to it?

I opened my **[Status]** page and stared in wonder at what it was telling me.

* * *

 **[Temperature (Body Temperature); 21** **(82.4** **)** **F**

* * *

...Maybe it was just a little too cold for most people to go stargazing. **[Exposure]** was putting in work to keep the effect of the cold out of my skin, and I was glad to find that I was not shivering like I should have been, despite the severe chill. Smiling at this I refocused on my task of the night.

I continued to fill in the spaces between my finger bones and using **[Second Wind]** to immediately replace the tissue destroyed by the maneuver in an attempt to acquaint myself with the spacing and shape of my bones. Wouldn't do to accidentally destroy my fingers after all.

After about half an hour, I decided that the process was intuitive and that if worse came to worst I'd chop off whatever was fucked and regrow it. No harm no foul. I grunted and then focused on the feeling inside of my Finger.

With a _ding_ , my world became **Focused**. Tunnel-vision. No other way to describe it. There was no outside, there was no pain, there was no piercing cold, and there was no **[Night Vision]**. Only **me** and my **bones**. I could feel them still inside of me, as though waiting for orders. In a trance that was so similar yet so different compared to my battle Fugues, I guided the bones to fuse and smoothen out, before they elongated out of the tip of my finger. I tilted my head in confusion, as something didn't feel _quite_ right, before extending the effect of the Skill from the tip of my finger all the way down to my wrist and solidified it until it was connected.

I expected it to be especially bad, but a single coat of **[Hardening]** hurt a hell of a lot worse than this. I turned off my night vision and stared down at the construct, like a needle four feet long with a tip of Blackened Bone that shone in the Moonlight. I looked at my Health as it quickly and silently refilled from around ninety percent, and wondered what else I could do with this. My Wrist was locked into place but I raised it above the Concrete banister that I was sat upon before simply letting it drop.

The Tip dug in until it hit the flesh of my finger. I pulled it up and nodded appreciatively.

Now for the true test; returning to normal.

I grabbed hold of the Feeling once more and directed ti at the affected places and hissed as the skill took its cost and watched as it all returned to the Hand, which I was proud to state was the only appendage I had yet to lose. After a minute of twirling my hand around to prove to myself that it was, in fact, normal I was assaulted by a notification.

* * *

 **Skill Branched; [Osteogenesis]!**

 **Stat requirements for Branch met; Con 75, Res 100.**

 **[Projection], Level 1!**

" _ **My body is a weapon," is an extremely accurate statement.**_

 **Create new Bone from Old. Can store up to (Lvl/10 + Res/100) Blueprints at a time.**

 **Same cost as [Osteogenesis]. Cannot create more than ¼ of your weight in Bone.**

 **-Blueprints;**

 **-[?].**

* * *

I smiled wickedly at the skill before closing the Window and deciding to take the night to create my perfect weapon to surprise people with in a fight. I immediately held out my right arm and gripped my Forearm with the Skill, quickly feeling a good thirty percent of my health drop in a matter of seconds as my Radius and Ulna fused and pierced through the skin of my wrist. I cursed as Blood began to pour from the wound, but ignored it in favor of finishing.

Much like before My mind became centered on the process, with the beating of my heart the only thing that made itself known as I fell into my work of creating a four foot long piece of bone and activating **[Second Wind]** once again to continuously heal the Wound as I work. Thankfully my Body wasn't creating a layer of Skin to cover the Bone, as that would be _nasty_. I was unsure of how long this process was taking, because I was honing an edge on something by the process of removing and adding things until it _felt right_.

Not exactly a scientific measurement.

When I thought that I was done I began thinning out where it connected to my arm, and with a painful flick of my wrist the piece of Blackened bone snapped off into my hand. I stared at the simple tool in amazement, and waited for it to fall apart after being separated, but all I received was another Notification. I ignored it in favor of running my left thumb down the edge of the Construct, reveling at the sharpness I felt pushing back against my metal skin. I stood and rolled over the banister to stand on the Roof and Heft the thing up into my best approximation of a Swordsman's Stance.

Feet wide apart and my center of gravity lowered with the five foot long Blade held out in front of me with both hands. It was a single-sided edge, and laughed as I swung it horizontally, easily slicing through the wind and creating a gale of wind as it passed. I looked at the notification that had spawned and grinned at it predatorily.

* * *

 **Would you like to store this Blueprint?**

 **[Y/N]**

* * *

I accepted and was given a menu to name the thing, and decided on the tried and true method of Cosma.

* * *

 **Blueprint [Big Fucking Sword] Stored.**

* * *

 **[Big Fucking Sword];**

 **Base Atk; 107 Damage.**

 **Str Requirement; 65.**

* * *

I couldn't help the laugh that erupted from me as I closed the notification before realizing one important issue; what the hell did I do with the sword? It was disconnected, but I still wanted it gone. And it wouldn't do to leave my fucking _bonesword_ laying around. Once more I activated **[Osteogenesis: Projection]** to sharpen and elongate my pointer finger one last time and tapping it against the sword. At the point where they touched the tingly feeling of Healing suddenly enveloped the Sword and the two connected. With a bit of pain I tore apart the Sword, which for some reason still cost Hp and Stamina like it was being created. I guess it was simply the control of the process that had a cost.

Not like it mattered, needed to be rid of thing one way or another and I had loads of Hp and Stm to spare.

Within seconds the Sword disappeared back into my skin with my elongated fingerbone, and there were no lasting evidence that I had just created a massive weapon. I looked down when I heard a splash and revised the statement. No lasting evidence besides all the blood. Either way, I couldn't wait to scare the shit out of Somebody with that _trick._

Stuff like this was what always drove me forward. I heard Roman talking about his dreams to earn enough money to live well for the rest of his life and drag his Father out of his menial job. I heard Cosma talking about finding her sister and simultaneously gaining the respect of her Father. Ashley seemed to simply want to become untouchable and never have to be powerless again.

I had no such drive. My eyes looked skyward and watched the stars, twinkling and pretty but lonesome when you thought about them. Anything like them was lightyears away, and they'd never meet. Not that I wanted them to, apparently it was disastrous but the Metaphor held up. I wasn't bright, shiny, or nice to look at but I was alone in my existence.

And I had a feeling that everytime I met someone… _something_ like me in anyway we were destined to fight.

A lucid and disconnected part of me noted that the stronger I got, the stronger those that I fought got, the more disastrous this path would become. I had already killed, already destroyed, and most certainly left the injured on my path for dead. Where would I stop?

I smiled as memories of my reasons floated to the surface of my mind, pictures of people that I had helped and claimed as mine. Maybe a better person would lament in my predicament, but I had no reason to. I knew where I drew my lines and I knew where I was willing to go. I looked down at my hands, ignoring the literal blood to contemplate the blood of those I'd harmed. If I had been able to, I might have tried harder to keep some of my enemies from dying, maybe try to go less lethal. But between my shitty control and the fact that most of them had broken my single rule, I didn't regret it. Not truly.

They had hurt what was mine. My people. My sole reason for living. I had been willing to talk to Abbad when I first went to the CCT Tower. He had seemed a reasonable enough person when I met him at the Bar.

But that had gone out the window when I saw Ashley beaten and Bloodied.

My friend had been harmed.

That was not allowed to stand.

All other goals, dreams, or morals fell before this drive; the drive to see them happy, unbroken, and alive. When they were in danger, I'd protect. When they were not, I'd be the whetstone that they sharpened their blades upon. If I was to be immortal, as my **[Status]** Page said I was destined for, then I'd spend my days latching onto people and propelling them forward as best I could.

As a broken man, it was the least I could do to be a good tool. I flexed my hands and watched as steam rose off of the fresh blood on my wrists, knowing that they could not be trusted to craft much. But eventually I might have enough experience to be for someone else what Nan was to me; an example of what not to be.

Blood seemed to be the price of my path. I had always been a single-minded fiend when it came to what I wanted, and that had always been rather simple things that were separated from me by ever increasing obstacles. The Protection of **Mine** was a goal that was ever moving, there was always something to fight or to deal with, so it made sense that I'd have to constantly improve myself. And I'd been there before, many a time. I'd beat my fists against whatever was in my way for hours, days, _weeks_ if it came down to it. That was simply what I was designed to do, there was nothing I could do about that.

But the sense of accomplishment? The pleasure of a job well done? Those were all me.

My eyes drifted slowly up from my hands and followed as a globe of dark blue energy appeared before me, slowly drifting up into the night air. The suddenness of the event, as well as the total lack of sound or smell, left me stunned long enough for it to cheerfully float higher until it was above my head. I followed it in wonder, easily recognizing it as the thing that had attacked me on Thursday, but I narrowed my eyes at it as something was keeping me from going full attack mode on it.

The other orb had been light blue, almost translucent in its color. It had also made its intent to attack me very clear the moment it showed up, but this one ignored me and continued its path over the edge of the Building. I watched it, before my eyes widened as I took in the sight of what had to be a hundred of the things lazily drifting towards a point outside the dim light of the Campus, maybe a hundred feet out in the desert. With a _huff_ I hopped onto the banister before taking a second jump forward, rolling in the sand as I landed the forty foot drop.

I felt a spike of heat as a red orb hit my shoulder before bouncing off. I watched as it twirled about and began to whisper furiously before it calmed down and continued its way out to the desert.

I wondered what they were going towards, before a young woman's voice flowed through my ears and some anomalous effect washed across my soul, " _Wayward Spirits, heed my call_." The words were most definitely Old Vacoan, with a hint of a dialect that was completely foreign to Nan's. She had described her Blocky and much more Atlesian derived accent as the Northern variety, while the Southern had always had the same song-like quality that these words had.

Magic. Out here in the _Brothers-Forsaken-Desert_.

The effect of the words was rebuffed without hesitation by my **Res** , but I still decided that this would be the way to find anyone else who spoke the Old Tongue. I stuffed my hands in my pockets with a jangle as the links of Chain shifted, and I watched the Slowly moving orbs all converge in the sky above a dune before they fell towards the ground. There was no light, and certainly no structure to denote the presence of a person.

But **[Instinct]** painted a different picture. I heard a dull low chant, not unlike Mistralian Throat singing, alongside the rhythmic sounds of feet in the sand as I approached. I blinked the sand out of my eyes as the winds began to pick up around me, increasing in intensity as I crested the hill. With slow, trudging steps that mirrored the orbs in the sky I made it to the top of the Hill and looked down upon an odd sight.

All of the orbs, which ran the rainbow in hues, circled around a figure in the middle of them, who seemed to be running through a kata. Kicks that went higher than her head, the occasional spin… Didn't seem to be a very effective form, whatever she was doing. I was about to call out to her, to see what she was doing, before the last of the Orbs floated into the Dome to circle around her. Immediately she stopped moving and sat down with her legs crossed and began a different chant.

" _Take my peace and use it as your own._ "

I tilted my head to the side as one by one the Orbs began to… fizzle out. There wasn't a good way to describe it. One moment they were circling with the rest, and the next they were less vibrant and then finally gone. I waited, with an easy smile on my face, until all of them were gone before leaning forward and sliding down the dune utilizing a trick that Luca had taught Taylor, who had taught me. I activated **[Shatter]** to coat the sand under my feet with Aura, but instead of detonating it I held it to hold the pile of sand together to give me a shitty little boogie-board to slide down dunes with.

As I slowly came down the incline the figure looked up from her seat to watch, and I could see the confusion on her face. Well, she wasn't alone.

 **[Marsha Mourie]**

 **[Level 42 Demolitionist]**

 **[** _ **Destroy to Understand**_ **]**

"Evening Miss Mourie," I opened with as I came to a stop, pausing to look at the odd state of dress that she was in. The thought occurred to me that I had never seen her _not_ wearing her long and billowy brown robes or pair of large glasses. Yet here she was, out in deadly cold weather wearing nothing more than a white sheet, some odd looking jewelry, and holding a stick. There was also the way that without her glasses I could see that her eyes were not the Dark brown black that I thought they were. They were most definitely Bright _fucking_ purple. "Getting a bit of practice in?" I asked without really knowing what to say.

Instead of being flustered like she usually was outside of teaching, she didn't have so much as a stutter when she answered, "Something like that," She said with a smile, but much like her eyes the smile wasn't natural. I was entirely expecting it when her right hand, the one holding the stick shot towards me and she _Spoke_ , " _Sleep!_ "

Once more the force of the words hit me, but I was just built to nullify Crowd Control. Sleep was a staple of CC. Of course I wasn't susceptible. So much as she stayed seated I did as well, closing my eyes against the wind that followed the word, before opening them to give her an unimpressed look. She gave me a look of pure Terror, and I smiled at her to compound the effect before _speaking_ to her in turn, " _No._ "

There was a moment of silence as she seemed to comprehend this, before she spoke again, this time in Common. "So you speak the Old Tongue," She stated seriously, in a state of awe, "Always one for surprises, eh? You are the last I would have expected, though your name should have given it away."

I smiled in response before shrugging, "I ain't fluent, don't go getting your panties in a bunch," The lucid part of me asking if she were even wearing them. I could see the cold getting to her in some ways and she most certainly wasn't wearing a bra. Ritualistic clothes must have contributed to hypothermia in the olden days. But she didn't seem concerned, as her heart rate stayed fairly constant outside of the spike upon my response, so I wouldn't be concerned either. "So what the hell were you doing?"

She scoffed and spit to the side before returning to give me a rather cold stare, "Spare me your preachings. I know that you and yours keep your souls close, but I will keep to our ways on pain of death," Her purple eyes and now much more cold attitude was something I could deal with much easier than a flighty and excitable young lady. The best part was, I knew that she was both. Couldn't lie like that unless you were genuinely like that one point. She was just a professional and saw me as a threat. And I knew this for certain.

For some reason. I squinted ahead before a brief notification popped to explain.

* * *

 **[Harder Heads Prevail] Activated! Check Passed!**

* * *

I shook off the bizarre feeling of passing a Charisma Check and simply took the information at face value.

"Gonna be honest here ya cunt," I said with a feral smile, knowing that this wasn't going to come to blows. Much like what she perceived this to be, this was an issue of words and the Old Tongue and I planned to keep it there. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I ain't got any souls, nor do I want any. Is that what those things were?"

"Your lies will serve you better elsewhere," She waved me off, and I was genuinely impressed with the balls she was showing for someone who had just failed to put me to sleep. That deserved respect in my book. "As though you were unaware. If you can _Speak_ then you can see them. Or if you've come into contact with them like the poor Shebul. You are already too late, they've been passed on to the Older Brother. Out of both of our hands." I couldn't help but laugh at the sickly sweet voice that she was using, but paid it little mind outside of amusement.

"Glad to hear it," I announced to her evident surprise, "There was this great big one that attacked me Thursday. Was about two feet wide and nearly see through," I described roughly, holding my hands wide in front of my face to give her a general feel for the dimensions just in case, "A little more blue than not. If you see it, could you.. shadow-box it away or whatever. It was acting like a cunt."

"You are serious?" She asked, the actual doubt in her voice mildly insulting.

Time to put that shit to rest. I could deal with the nonsense of my History teacher exorcising shit, but calling me a liar was a step too far.

"Look," I rumbled out as I stood up, which she flinched away from, wielding her stick like it were a shield that could cover her from me, but I didn't give too much of a shit at this point. I hit the plane that the Orbs had stopped at and felt resistance, but I smashed it aside with my left hand and stomped towards her. I stuck a finger in her face, making sure she could see me very clearly despite the lack of light. And then I spoke the same as I always did. "I don't know what the _hell_ you're thinkin' right now, or what baggage you got against a _fuckin'_ _dialect_ , but I don't give a flyin' fuck. I ain't lyin'. Haven't in along time, and I don't plan to do it anytime soon. Especially if some ghostly fucks are floatin' around the academy."

I stood back up and turned away, deciding that I had either gotten my point across or not, but she spoke up before I got very far.

"Wait," I looked over my shoulder and watched her rise, idly noting the way that the sand fell from the Robe was the work of her semblance as the sound of her Aura coming to the surface graced my ears. Just as had always been the case for her presentations in Class, so she was obviously skilled outside Magic. "Do you truly know nothing of what I did? Of why you should not condone it?" She gave me a searching look, but I wasn't hiding anything. "Did your teacher not teach this? Or are you self taught?"

"I don't know dick. Languages never came easy to me. Too many similarities and differences to keep track of. Syntax was a bitch," I explained, managing to get a weak chuckle out of her, "And Nan specifically never taught me anything about the people who spoke the shit. I thought it was because they were all dead."

"No, they are not dead yet," She corrected with a sideways glance to the sands as she moved forwards, mumbling her next sentence under her breath, "Despite the World's best efforts." I quirked an eyebrow at her but she continued on as though she had said nothing, "It's Old Vacuoan, specifically the Northern Dialect. The language of a Tribe of Monsters in the form of men that conquered the Sands, the Seas, and Forests of the continent of Sanus through the use of Necromancy. They raised armies to fight instead of using their own men. One Member was worth an army."

I stared at her impassively, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't I just shrugged, "That's why they're so bad? They raised the dead?"

She scowled at me before speaking quickly under her breath and hovering up the Dune. I shook my head at her back and jumped to the crest with a puff of Sand, waiting for her much slower and cleaner ascent. "Well I see why they taught _you_ , if you have no revulsion to their ways."

And blew a raspberry in annoyance at her, "And what did your people do? Run around exorcising people?" Theology. That's what this was. Convinced she was right, convinced the other side was wrong. So old, yet so naive. So far removed from the Modern and yet it felt so similar. Might as well have been listening to Roman and Ashley bicker about Politics for all the good it did.

"No," She rebuked with a huff that was more befitting Ashley or Emily than my usually flighty teacher, "That was only one of the things that they did. They were scholars, they were warriors, and, unlike you _barbarians_ , they followed the teachings of the Older Brother. They gained mastery over the elements and their minds in return for their devotion."

"Mastery over the mind?" I parroted as we approached the campus edge, "Control over the elements, huh? How is that any better than Necromancy?"

She turned to me affronted, "It breaks the sanctity of the Cycle of Life! A soul stolen from _his_ hands can never return!"

"Where'd they figure it out from? You said that yours followed the Older Brother? Mister Light, Sunshine and _lies_ if I'm remembering my mythology correctly," I watched in amusement as she twitched in annoyance, but could not disagree. Some would say his lies were to better humanity, to test us, or some other inane excuse but that he lied was never a question. He had a tongue of silver that got him out of many a situation.

"They were given their magic, their _language_ , by the Younger as you may have guessed," She answered with a scowl. This was one of the reasons I enjoyed scholars; They may hate your guts, but they hated being wrong even more. Even if it tore her argument to shreds she was going to correct me. "The personification of Darkness, Destruction, and Entropy. Nothing from him ever created anything good." Yes, because his gifts often destroyed things that were seen as evil, which is sometimes what is needed.

Both were a gift from a god. Both were unnatural as well as entirely immoral. A tool to be used. Now I had to figure out how to exit the conversation without offending the nice Shaman Lady.

Time to steal lines from smart people and hope for the best.

"The Darkness by itself is impossible to navigate, the Light by itself painful and blinding," I wagged my finger as my best impression of Nan came over me and my voice went high and scratchy, and I left her behind as she slowed down at my words. "Your eyes don't detect light nor Darkness, it sees the _differences_. You cannot navigate without both, unless you are blind to both. I choose to see and regard both as equals. How about you?"

This was the line of Nan's that had really explained things the most to me. It was why I wasn't a moral person. I simply did what I wanted and didn't think in black or white. There was always some gradient of Gray that suited me just fine. And if it made people happy along the way more power to 'em.

The funny thing was that the quote was about a cookie we used to eat, part black part white and Nan's insistence that the best part of the Cookie was the whole thing.

I turned around and laughed as she stared at me in a mix of horror and agreement. To the entirely out of context quote before rallying, sticking her nose up in the air at me, "A fine sentiment, _Staín_. If you hold no ill will, and are as bad at this as you claim to be, then it wouldn't be right for me to leave you alone on your request. I will look for the Spirit you described. They could be a big problem if left unchecked."

She walked towards the teacher's Dorm, before in a flash of light her normal clothes appeared on top of her white robe and jewelry. Along with it came the Glasses that cloaked her eyes back to the unremarkable brown, and she turned to me and gave her usual dorky smile and wave, "A-and for the record it's not Shadow-Boxing. It's called a Vana," I snorted at her change back to the person I knew and the embarrassed flush on her neck, "I was dancing, you big meanie."

"Uh-huh," I agreed as we parted ways, "Whatever you say. See you in class, Marsha."

"T-that's Miss Mourie to you!" She shouted in response, but I was just glad that it was shouting in Common and not the Old Tongue.

...I wonder if she knew the spell to teach me how to whistle?

I'd have to ask after class.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Protector]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank]**

 **Lvl 24: 1475/2400 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 57934/57934 HP Regen: 1282 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 2067/2067, Stm Regen: 84 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 9696/9696, Ap Regen: 242 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level; [259/1050]; Natural Stress Relief; 1 per Minute.**

 **(+4 per even Lvl, +5 per odd Lvl)Str: (145) 155**

 **(+1 per odd Lvl, +2 per even Lvl)Dex: 50**

 **(+6 per Lvl)Con: (188) 201**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 9**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-2 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+3 per Lvl)Res: 102**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 1070**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 41028**

 **Pistol Atk: 303**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 327 Damage.**

 **Mag; 20 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?];?.** _ **Allows the use of Magic.**_ _**?.**_

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** _ **you**_ **don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Fast Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate a fourth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, half of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach];** _ **Hard heads Prevail!**_

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

 **[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.5+50) to (Str*3.75+50).**

 **[Destiny Breaker]**

 _ **The Chains that Bind will be severed, and I shall be the shearing force.**_

 **-20 Luck.**

 **(100 - Luck)% chance to Break [Curses] and [Blessings] applied to you.**

 **[Marked; [Subjects of Prophecy]]; All of those within the affected Group shall recognize you as [Chainbreaker], with the potential to be hostile.**

 **?**

 **-[Pack Animal]**

 _ **Familiarity is your comfort.**_

 **(-50)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses below [Trusted (Level 3)].**

 **(+100)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses above [Trusted (Level 3)].**

* * *

 _Alright, I think this Chapter should set up the Arc nicely, with the pieces slowly falling into place. Supporting characters being fleshed out alongside the main cast even if they were off screen the entire chapter for the first time since the Tutorial Arc. My hope is to make a point about characters here, that no matter how little someone thinks a Character impacts the story I can and will use what I have already created to the best of my ability._

 _In other words, expect Tom-Tom Herder, ye olde first Enemy, to make a comeback eventually because I really like the name and want to give people parts eventually. Maybe have him run for office or something, that could be fun. The Commander and everything is a pretty big influence on Austin's Connections, obviously. Janette is now his Boss, and so on. I don't like to introduce new characters unless literally no one I have made could believably fill in the role._

 _Hence the Witchy Woman of the hour._

 _But if you haven't noticed, this story is rather self-contained and serves more as a Spin-off to flesh out the world of Remnant while RWBY deals with Ozpin/Ozma and Salem. They will eventually be introduced, but never as major antagonists. RWBY Cast will also have guest appearance type shit, like what I did with Raven. Qrow and Taiyang on a bender in Vacuo would be fun._

 _Also, this Arc was planned to be shorter, but I think I'm gonna lace in the start of the Next Arc not only to shorten that one, but also because I feel like there is potential for good Comedy, if for instance Team A(C)RA is going ghostbusters while Cosma has to invisibly make sure an SDC rep doesn't see them chasing invisible shit._

 _On the note of witches and shit, I want it known that I plan on threading in more of the 'Religious'/Magical side of Remnant now that Austin can (barely) use it. I really like Fantasy and enjoy it a hell of a lot. Also, it is an easy stretch to make when everyone has Aura and that shit is basically magic. Fantasy means magic and magical creatures, and shenanigans. I don't know if my humor is landing, but the situations in general are supposed to be at least chuckle worthy._

 _That's all I really go for._

 _Um, I had a traditional Ves from Sri Lanka to serve as my Exorcism ritual and tribute to Spooktober, as well as a theme for the arc being centered around it._

 _Review responses that maybe should be clarified;_

 _Austin is seventeen and a few months._

 _NonYaarb; Why kill what he has Beaten? Taylor being alive may have caused an issue, but you are defined by your actions, not the actions of others. If he left her to die then he would've felt bad. Now he's basically got an indentured servant and he doesn't even realize it._

 _Music Choices;_

 _Austin's Philosophy; "This is Me" by Tech N9ne._

 _Miss Mourie and the Orbs; "Northwest Passage" By Unleash the Archers._

 _Alright, that's my piece said._

 _Remember, If your Grave doesn't have rest in peace you are automatically drafted into the Skeleton wars._

 _Jericho Out._


	33. Level 3: Part 3

_Interlude A_

* * *

" _You want a what?" Raul asked in disbelief as he stared back into the Room he had almost left. His Step-daughter was a touchy subject for him, because despite all that he liked and enjoyed her company (as much as he could enjoy any twelve year old's company at least) he just didn't know how to connect with her. Janette had made it clear that neither of them had to interact if they weren't so inclined._

 _Hell, for all that she showed, he had been sure up until a month or two ago she hated his guts. She was all silences and those blank, frightening, stares. But then she had asked him to teach her how to be a huntsman. Well, Not in those words._

 _She asked him to teach her how to kill._

 _Janette had agreed easily, with more enthusiasm than either of the participants. She immediately began trying to figure out what weapons she would use, when she would unlock her Aura and all of that without even asking him if he was going to go through with it. He went with the flow anyways, thought that it could be fun, and had found a hard worker and quick study in the girl._

 _He still knew very little about how to interact with her, though._

" _Mom tells me stories," She replied easily, those yellow eyes staring up at him from her seat at the dinner table, "And I thought since it's just me and you, you could tell me one of yours." Simple logic, Child's logic. No reason to say yes, no reason to say no._

 _Janette filled the young girl's head with stories of Huntsmen long past, of cities and wars that no one alive has seen. She loved to pull a random history book from her Bookshelf and flip to a random page, take a moment or two to find a good place, and then tell it to her daughter in a way that she could understand and enjoy. Turn history into Bedtime stories._

 _Raul had no such ability. In fact, he also happened to have very little in the ways of Stories that were_ _ **legal**_ _to tell her. And she didn't look like a shoe-in for a top secret security clearance anytime soon. Most of his stories were of towns razed, people killed, and monsters slain amidst the bodies of their victims._

 _But he was powerless in the face of the innocent look that she aimed at him, seeing as it was the only child like look that she owned. Usually she was blank in the eye and dead in the eye, or with a downright chilling smile when she had done something like beat down someone who annoyed her in class. That mean streak had led Janette to several rants about being both parties in a Parent-teacher conference, that he had only pretended to listen to._

 _He got it, Ashley was a tad bit violent, a tad bit cruel, and entirely too vicious. He had figured that one out when they started sparring and she immediately went for the lethal spots. That she was merely looking curious was to be encouraged, anything to make it stay longer. He might as well put in the effort with his little protege, save some poor fucker some pain in the future._

 _He turned around slowly and made his way to the dinner table before sitting heavily in a chair, all the while trying to find a good story. When he did he snapped his fingers and leaned forward over the table, lowering his voice in the same way he heard Janette do every other night._

" _I got one for you, a story that no one else knows, because I never told 'em, so they'd never find the place to begin with," A story that wasn't even very violent, just… unsettling. Maybe he'd wring out some message for her, "In the South Eastern part of Mantle, there's a town. An old town, filled to the Brim with old families that are, or were when I was there at least, downright prickly towards outsiders. They don't let people move into their little slice of the wilderness and refuse to let new families join the Town. If you stumble upon this Town do not be surprised to find that it isn't on any map or atlas, or that there is no Inn for you to rest for the night. Food is not sold or given to outsiders, words are barely spoken except for dismissals and insults, and the only way you get as far in as I did is if you have a Hunting Job in the area._

" _But that's highly unlikely, seeing as they refuse to call for huntsmen even when they are under siege from Grimm in the most Grimm-populated lands I've ever been to. The Job that took me there was retrieving the Black Box for an experimental Bullhead that had crashed in the area. Days spent trekking the wilderness, barely able to see twenty feet in front of me at noon with the Thick trunks of Trees pressing in around me and their canopies of Leaves blocking out the sunlight._

" _King Taijitu slithered through and nevermore flew overhead in numbers I had only ever heard of in those books that Janette has. Years of experience and well maintained weapons were the only reasons I made it through that Brothers-Forsaken Forest, and even then it was a close thing," He confided with a shrug even as Ashley watched him, enraptured in the tale already, Not that he felt accomplished for that. She listened to her Mother and her History teacher with the same gusto, always so willing to soak up information about what others have faced and what she may one day face as well. His story was just another bit of information to add to her memory, but as long as she was listening that was fine by him, "So to say that I was both confused and relieved when I pushed through a gap in the trees only to fall into a massive clearing filled with squat log buildings and Small farming plots would have been an understatement._

" _The people, men and women all stared at me like I was a Grimm that had come to steal their children, snapping and biting and growling like wild dogs when I approached them," With a look not of fear in their eyes like some gave him and other armed men walking through their town either. They looked at him with hostility as though he were about to be knocked around, and he was ashamed to admit that he was intimidated. Him, a Huntsman of three years and already cleared for solo hunts, scared by members of some random Village of hicks in the middle of a forest. It wasn't just their eyes either, it was how they held themselves, low to the ground and trying to show off a smaller profile to him._

 _They treated him like an invader to be fought off._

" _When I was eventually approached by an older man, stout and worn by years of farming in the dirt, his face was dire and stern while telling me to leave in an almost impossibly thick Atlesian Accent. He might as well have choked on Vowels and tripped on consonants for all the grace that he had. Told me that I needed to clear out before something bad happened."_

 _He paused for effect, relishing the little bit of emotions that the girl let slip out as she fidgeted in place and motioned for him to continue, "He said that the Locals weren't keen on 'New Blood' and I wasn't wanted there. I told him that I was looking for a crashed Aircraft and he confirmed that they had seen it come down, but it was at least a mile away. Which for a regular place means close by, but for a Grimm-choked forest? Might as well have been a hundred for all the trouble it was going to be. I asked if he had a place I could stay and he pointed to a barn nearby that was his. Told me not to drink the water and that a guide would wake me and take me to the place, but that's not the story."_

" _All of the people looked similar, sickly almost. Maybe weary is the right word. Tired, haggard, torn down by the world. From what I could see, there were a few traits that seemed common amongst the people. I don't remember what they were, its been almost twenty years now, but I remember that it was a more animalistic way that they looked while not outwardly being Faunus. No one had all of the traits either, but all I saw had at least one thing that made them stand out. I remember that there was a child no older than four who had the skin of a Farmer of forty years and a Girl with Long strands of Mottled white hair on an otherwise brown head of hair. Little things that stuck out, but I can't remember more for the life of me. Suffice to say, with everyone else having an odd trait,_ _**I**_ _was the odd one out. I spent my night watching from the loft of the Barn."_

 _Raul raised a single finger in front of his face, "The only person who spoke to me was the guide the next morning. And he did not do so with relish, until I told him that if I had a reason to leave, I'd make sure no one came after me. The other locals were not so generous," Which, if he were giving a report wasn't exactly truthful. He had been unable to try and ask for food with how much his nerves were acting up. The Feeling of the town was the most memorable part of the experience, with sights and sounds fading with time but the atmosphere still stuck with him almost twenty years later._

 _He had slept in a town of Monsters. He didn't know what made it so, but the very air seemed to try and choke him. Thankfully he had his long ingrained past time to relax himself; sharpening his axes. No need to ruin his chances of being a hero though, so he'd keep that to himself. He smiled to show her that he had muddled through the experience, "Thankfully I still had provisions left over and hadn't gone hungry in the night, but I would've if I'd been relying on their hospitality. I was met with a gruff young man the next morning, looking maybe half a decade younger than me at the time, so fifteen tops. He's where I got most of the info on the place, as he was the only one willing to talk to me._

" _When I remarked on those handful of odd features that everyone seemed to have," And not in the way that All schnees seemed to have. This hadn't been a Genetic thing, nor cosmetic. Family units looked disjointed outside of their proximity with people not fitting together like usual. Like a Village of adopted children, "The man told me that they were blessings, unique to each of their people. A Blessing that was placed upon them simply for choosing the right river to gather water back when the Village was founded. Those with the Blessings were destined to be great protectors of the Village, and be fierce warriors that would stand between the rest and the world._

" _I did see the Prowess of the Guide when we met Grimm and he was certainly skilled for someone without Aura," Wielded a Spear with a passion that still impressed him. Very few people did that, and he was surrounded by very accomplished Huntsmen on the regular. No skill, obviously untrained, but he made up for it by being extremely athletic and acrobatic in their few scrapes with death. "He was still below Huntsmen, though, but maybe that's not a fair method of judgement. The most important part of the story was his last warning; That only those of the River can drink from it, and can protect the Village. The longer they stayed in the village to protect it the more prosperous of a life they'd have," He hesitated, wondering how much he really needed to say about some old superstition spoken from a man in the middle of falling into a shock induced coma, before deciding to chop off the less important parts, "The longer they spent away from the water the more disastrous consequences. The same misfortune fell on anyone not of the river who drank from it, with grim tidings following them until the world took their water back and gave it to the River."_

 _The man did not blame him for appearing to call him into the Forest, away from his village. Calling down some curse upon him simply for leaving, to aid him in his search for a downed ship._

 _To his Doom._

 _But he had taken the time, as he literally held his stomach together after being gored by a Boarbatusk, to warn him off. And rattle off what must have been an important warning. If those that leave do not pay their toll, eventually those around them will pay in their place._

 _He reached out and flicked her nose, making her blink out of focus at him from behind a pair of glasses that were too big for her face, "So just do me a favor will ya? Bring bottled water if you ever go to Atlas on a Job, just in case. And if you have_ _ **any**_ _choice at all, stick to the frozen fields, the mountains, and the City proper. Never the Forests, for my sake of mind if for nothing else, alright?" She nodded in acceptance before bowing her head quickly and thanking him for the story._

 _He simply grunted and left to take a shower. Maybe wash off the nasty feelings that even remembering that place brought him._

 _In his soul he knew that she should never be anywhere near the Infamous "Wolf Faunus" of Atlas, but might as well give her the little bit of insight he had with the strange group supposedly a fairy tale and a broader bit of advice for the world at large._

 _Expect no aid from those around you, be the most self-sufficient person possible or one day she may go hungry in the night._

 _Or, if she didn't follow his advice, she may be in for a fate far worse than that._

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

Green eyes twitched in annoyance as more people walked into the cafeteria, the cafeteria that he was currently using as a place to avoid his team. He couldn't be outside, there was sand everywhere and a strong northwind to disturb him. Miss Mourie was hosting a study session in the Library, so that was also a pass. With Tank and Cosma in the Dorm, Ashley helping Emily and Shebul in the Forge, and the second years sparring in the Arena for the foreseeable future, he was in the Cafeteria. Mostly to avoid Luca and his nosy fucking semblance.

Honestly, Roman knew it wasn't his fault that he was basically addicted to using it after years of reliance, but **come on man** , grow a backbone and face the world _blind_ once in a while. Of course, this was assuming that there was an off switch. That would be an appropriate curse, always hearing the secrets of the world no matter where you are or what you are doing.

Bet that was a treat during horror movies. Did knowing that a jumpscare was coming down the pipe lessen the effect? A question for later, he decided as he returned to his paper. His Scroll vibrated and the screen flashed once before the soft jazz cut off suddenly. Glaring at the offending object, wondering why it was dead as he had put it on the charger all night. He shuffled through his bag and pulled out the charger, staring at the cut cord with frayed wires emerging from the split with dull eyes.

He'd have words with his partner when she came for Lunch.

Pulling out the earbuds he shoved everything but his notebook back into his Bag, deciding that today simply was not his day. He turned to his left and looked out the thick storm-proof glass of the window that overlooked the small rocky field that was behind the Cafeteria/Commissary building, where Austin had been suckered into teaching a few of the younger children how to throw a punch while Taylor watched. Roman bowed his head against his hands and thought about praying to Gods he had never believed in.

Before Austin had exploded into his life with proof of Magic, casually destroying Roman's understanding of physics with a simple punch even more than an ordinary everyday semblance did. Now? He was certain that there were Gods out there.

Gods that enjoyed fucking with his life.

He took off his glasses and wiped them down as he stared out of the window, thankful that he was farsighted despite the amount of jokes made. These eyes and plans landed him the favor of Headmaster Fulvus and a place in the Academy, one step closer to his goals. They had also kept him and Cosma out of quite a few scrapes simply by lack of credible evidence to pin the offenses on them, despite the efforts of the Staff. And now they helped his friends and teammates on their jobs.

A pretty good progression of events, if he were being honest.

He watched as the Gaggle of kids refused to sit still, whirling around their informal mentor as he taught a small kid in the middle of the Group the importance of footing. Namely by squaring himself in the sand and making a point about not being able to be moved from his position as the kid pushed against his hands. Then with a light push the Kid tumbled into some unfortunate little girl who had been running through his path. As the two fell into a heap Taylor erupted into laughter from her position perched on a wall nearby and Austin Clapped his hands together.

The windows rattled from the volume of the noise, gaining the attention of a few people in the Cafeteria. The single Third Year team all sat in the middle of the room in a spot that left them unable to look out the Window, but they continued eating and carousing without too much thought. To them, the sound of _small artillery_ must not have been that much of an issue, but to the Communications Majors at the Table ahead of him it was certainly eye catching.

The three girls all squeaked as the Glass rattled in its frame beside them, looking out with fearful eyes that quickly morphed to annoyance when they saw what caused it, the one facing Roman that sat closest to the Window scowling down at his Teammate through narrowed eyes, "Oh Brothers, its the _Stain_. What is that Idiot up to now?"

Roman chuckled to himself at the insult, and returned to watching Austin simultaneously instruct and entertain the Children, letting them come up and take a turn to lay into his hands while giving them tips. Roman was impressed with the simplistic way that he could boil an explanation down to, and read his lips as he broke down complicated Boxing techniques into easy to understand reasoning, ' _If you hit somebody with your hand, it may hurt. Hit them with your hand_ _ **and**_ _the power of your arm and it hurts worse. Turn your shoulder into it for more. Lean into the blow to get the weight of your head and your chest into it. Push off of the ground to get your legs into it. Your entire body into one motion,, that's a good punch. But the sign of a great punch is that the guy you clock moves with your hand, so always aim behind the guy and move him there._ '

He was no orator, nor would he ever be, but he could give you the gist of something he understood. Eventually the children began to understand as they began to lunge into his hands and putting the entire weight of their ten year old bodies into their attacks and he clapped once more, and waved them off with a big smile on their faces. Taylor was still laughing, as most of the children immediately began pouncing on each other and sucker punching each other as they ran off, but Austin just watched this with a bit of trepidation on his face.

Probably hadn't thought about what would happen if you taught a bunch of children how to properly slug each other.

The infirmary would be full of kids with black eyes within the hour, Roman would bet on it.

"I don't understand why he's here," Grumbled her compatriot, and like that Roman was interested in the conversation. He turned away from the Window, flipped to a blank page and began doodling to avoid suspicion. The girl speaking was no one significant, some nameless student that had been in another class. Straight hair to her shoulders that was such a dark black that it shined blue, but beyond that? Nothing remarkable. Average in anyway, save for temperment. She wrinkled her nose at the window, "All he ever does is make a mess of the place and break things. And he's a horrible influence, I heard that ever since he started helping the maintenance staff the Manager started acting really mean to his employees and Shop students. And he was an asshole _before_ that."

The girl with dirty blonde hair huffed what could have generously been called agreement, waving her hands at the window, "Not to mention that everything he touches seems to break almost immediately afterwards," she flicked her hair over her shoulder and grimaced as she brushed a bit of sand off of her shoulder, "Just this morning he covered me and half of the class in sand and dirt when he landed in the Courtyard."

The third girl, the one sitting the furthest away from the window looked sheepish as the two complained about the nuisance that was Austin. She had red hair that fell in waves, and Roman paused in his doodling as he realized that she was someone he recognized. A timid girl that had been in his class when he first transferred in, up until the classes had split for Huntsmen Corps prep and Huntsmen Support Prep in the eighth grade. Rachael something or other if he had been pressed to give a name, a girl who had been preparing to enter the Corps until she had decided against it to go support instead. Something told him that it was an issue of disposition. She gave the two girls around her an uneasy look, but said nothing.

Unfortunately for her, her friends noticed.

"What," the blue haired girl questioned heatedly, "Do you think I'm wrong? Literally, I've heard nothing _good_ about him. Got into a fight the third day he was here, pissed off _Nilah_ of all people, and was so unruly that Mr. G stopped giving him detentions for his own health. _And_ I heard he was brown nosing the Schnee, despite that Faunus girl that he runs around with. Despicable."

The red haired girl weathered the tirade by shrinking into herself, before rallying on the last word and actually throwing her own look at the girl that had her back to Roman. Well, would you look at that. A bit of fight in the girl after all. "I-I do. I fell and he helped me up."

The two girls gave her a generally surprised look before bursting into laughter at the poor girl, but Roman knew what she was going for. It was the same basis that he had for why he was actually a good teammate despite how often he simply ran off ahead or to fight the big bad, or even how roughly he treated them without much consideration.

Rachael, on the other hand, was now in the unenviable position of explaining it to people that Roman was beginning to believe were a bit self-absorbed and shallow. Because, honestly, how important was a bit of dirt in the long term? He was training to protect them from the Scourge of Grimm upon Remnant, and was _extremely_ good at it despite all of their complaints. You would think an extra Shower or two would be worth a literal bulwark between them and a gruesome death.

"What's that matter?" Questioned the Blonde, in a voice that began to grate upon Roman's ears, "He was raised to be polite, but he still breaks everything he touches and starts fights everywhere he goes? I don't think those cancel out."

Rachael gave her a light glare as her cheeks finally fell to a normal rate of blush, "It matters because everyone else was going to class and I tripped, throwing my bag in the process. And when everyone else laughed and kept moving because they didn't want to be late, he picked me up and slapped my bag into my arms, and pushed me towards class," She was red in the face from frustration now, "He's not great, some master of niceties, or even polite, but I think he's got a good heart. I think that counts for something," She finished with a huff, her frustration exceeding her embarrassment for a moment.

"You're entitled to your opinion, Girl," the blue haired girl favored on the cautious side, deciding against pushing the issue while she was worked up. Looked like she was right on the edge of an aneurysm, "But just know that I think you're wrong. He's bad news, and I don't think he should be anywhere near our campus. I just can't understand why the Headmaster let him in."

"Or why _she_ goes by Head _master_ ," the blonde immediately chimed in, with a flawless adjunct to a new topic of discussion. With a final shake of his head, he decided to tune them out.

" **Oi!** " Came a shout from right beside his ear, causing him to flinch so hard he through his pen over his shoulder. He turned to glare at his partner as she settled herself into the seat next to him with her customary meal of Ice cream all while smiling like the cat that caught the canary, "You looked focused, so I decided to stop that. Diligence is contagious, afterall," She explained in her self-satisfied, smug way and with a huff he shoved his Notebook into his Bag.

He'd have to find another time to figure out his most recent issue without distractions.

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

I stared down at Tank as he glared back up at me, or more specifically the Drumstick that I was holding in front of my face. The dog was already a tad too big to sit in Cosma's lap comfortably, one leg sticking out to the side as he leaned forward to rest his chin on the Table in front of him. His focused brown eyes stared back at me, and had I not had the Game system to alert me I would have sworn he was trying to mind control me. _Drop the food_ , I could hear clearly in my mind.

 _Fat chance_ , I thought back mercilessly, _My Turkey leg_.

 **[Tank]**

 **[Level 4 Stuffawler Pup]**

 **[** _ **Strong Like Bull**_ **]**

 **[Neutral (Level 0); 28/50]**

As it stood though, I had figured out the exact route to gain his favor and I was exploiting the _hell_ out of it, no matter how much it cost me.

With a sigh I looked around the table to check on my friends, mostly to make sure Ashley wasn't watching, before grabbing a steak I had grabbed for this exact purpose and throwing it like a frisbee over to the little beastie. With more grace than _I_ was capable of he caught it without even jostling his makeshift seat while she shoveled Ice cream into her mouth.

 **[Tank]**

 **[Level 4 Stuffawler Pup]**

 **[** _ **Strong Like Bull**_ **]**

 **[Neutral (Level 0); 33/50]**

And like that I was a tenth of the way closer to the next level. The trick only worked as long as he was hungry, but much like me that was an eternal state for the thing. I watched in fascination as the thing devoured the slab of meat in two bites, barely chewing as it disappeared from my line of sight.

I had to admit, I was impressed.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a new movement and tuned back into the happenings of the table, once again blasting my ears with the sound of a Bulldog warbling under its breath as Emily rocked it back and forth.

 **[Winston]**

 **[Level 2 Bulldog Pup]**

 **[** _ **Anticipatory Drooler**_ **]**

 **[Irritating (Level -1); -85/-100]**

I found it funny that Tank's first few days spent trying to tear my throat out had counted as 'Training', and he was twice the level of the other Dogs. He was also twice as strong and large. He was also two times more likely to run into a wall, trip over nothing, and bite someone. He was a surly little thing, especially when it came to me. The other dogs were sitting at the border of dislike and finding me annoying, while Tank had immediately come down on the side of Dislike the first time he had set his eyes on me.

I honestly think that the only reason he had decided to give me a chance was because of what I ate. I looked over at the plates of my friends, the corner of my lips curling at the humor of finding salads and fruits and other _nutritious_ green things, and then at the brown and reds of my plate, filled with meat, potatoes, and bread. I also pointedly ignored whatever the hell Cosma considered a meal, as I had lived with her for four months at this point and I still had yet to see her eat anything other than sweets.

Which explained her height as something more than genetics. Bitch needed a steak, ASAP.

Roman's shoulder jostled against mine and I leaned forward to get a better angle on what was happening on the other side of the Table. Emily had slapped their Dog into Shebul, who had dominoed Roman into me, before pulling out a piece of paper from her binder and writing something out. With a flourish she twirled the paper around for her Leader and Ashley to read, "So this is how Mistralian Inheritance works-" And like that I was gone, making eye contact with Shebul and shrugging in solidarity with the boy.

He looked just as uninterested in _that_ as I was.

In this time of boredom I felt something shift in the atmosphere. A tingling in my fingertips, the taste of ice in the air, and other things that didn't belong in the Cafeteria. Like a wave I watched as those in the Room all began to jolt and twitch as they began to rub at their eyes. I watched one man try in vain to hold his arm still as it gripped his tray and flung it against the wall, while another gripped the lip of the table to stop himself from standing. Both had confused and scared looks on their faces as they did so.

* * *

 **Status Effect [?] Resisted!**

* * *

"Another Question mark," I grumbled as I watched in concern and dawning horror as people began to fall in and out of whatever trance that had crept over the cafeteria, but despite all of what was happening _no one_ made a sound. Everyone's eyes, no matter the expression or action they were in the middle of, were always locked onto a single person that I could see no rhyme or reason to.

Cosma's reddened face was locked onto Roman, who returned her gaze with a much less strained look. Ashley was locked onto Taylor, Emily was staring at Ashley, and Shebul was staring at Cosma. It was like some web of connections that I had no way to even begin to understand. I turned to check other tables and was surprised to find at least ten sets of green eyes staring holes into my head. That meant that of all the possibilities in the Room, a fourth of them had landed on me.

Either there was a reason I needed literally anyone else to find, or my Luck had shot me in the foot once again.

Taylor's head shot up from where it had been resting on her arms with a start, recoiling reflexively from whatever had awoken her. Her ears twitched on top of her head as she looked around the room, and I watched as the muscles in her neck strained against whatever was puppeteering her. Her wide green eyes locked onto mine as her head turned towards the other side of the Table only to stop on Ashley with her face warping into a scowl. Her brow furrowed as she narrowed her unearthly emerald eyes at the Blonde girl, and I could only watch, mystified as I literally watched a war of emotion wage across her face. I watched with a clinical curiosity as she made it obvious that she was trying to speak as her jaw tensed alongside the rest of her body. Wound up like a spring, trying to be loosed, but unable to.

What the hell was happening?

 **[Instinct]** Blared out as a cold chill shot down my spine followed by another Notification marking another Debuff repulsed, and I noticed that I was the only one that seemed to be unaffected by whatever was happening. On the barest fringes of my hearing I heard consistent whisperings that sounded like continuous scratches on tile, and had I been **anyone** else I wouldn't have been able to hear it. As it stood, I couldn't even understand what was being said, but it made it plainly clear something screwy was going on.

And then, just when I fumbled for something, _anything_ , to do to help, Tank and Winston came in clutch. They fell to the floor as their owners became unable to hold them properly, and immediately began making the most unholy racket I had ever heard. The sounds of the yapping hounds hit the frozen people like a physical force, sending people leaning back away from the dogs as they made a racket.

And then, as though planned, every single person in the cafeteria blinked one long blink and resumed eating. Cosma scooped up Tank with a flash of Pink Aura and cooed at him as he struggled to get free, while Winston simply waddled up to Emily and signalled his desire to be picked up with a low ' _Boof._ ' I watched through wide eyes as everyone just continued on like nothing happened, before my attention was stolen by the sight of something moving across the floor briefly before disappearing once more.

Something translucent blue, almost crystal clear like fresh water.

 _That fucking_ _ **cunt**_ _of a ghost_ , I grumbled inside my head as I scrambled to figure out what to do. I followed it as it bobbed and floated away from me, rising out of the tiled floor to exit by phasing through a window on the other side of the Room to float, presumably towards the massive Building that hung over the Campus like an executioner's Blade. It took all of my Will power not to throw myself out of the window to follow the thing, or person if it still counted, because of one simple fact.

I had no way to stop it.

With a curse I smacked the table, unable to stop my anger from boiling over, feeling my **[Stress]** level steadily rising.

* * *

 **[Stressor] added; [Inability to Help] + 50 points.**

* * *

Nearby people began to calmly stand up and bring their trays to the little window that had a conveyor belt to bring the dirty dishes to the Back of the Kitchen. My right eye twitched at the situation as I realized exactly what it would look like if I flew off the handle now.

"You alright?" And like that I tuned back into the table around me, only realizing now that I had just cracked the Table in half with my Smack from before. I cursed internally as I looked up to meet the concerned eyes of Taylor, now returned to her regular non-pulsating blue, who was the only one not glaring at me for ruining their dinner. I grit my teeth and decided that they weren't just acting like they didn't remember, they probably didn't _fucking_ remember.

She had asked a question, and I had no answer. Can't lie, that'll be obvious as hell, and I can't tell the truth, because they won't believe me.

* * *

 **[Quest Received;** _ **Soul**_ **Purpose!**

 _ **I wonder what**_ **Possessed** _**them to do that?**_

 **-Figure out what Possessed them to do that, and stop it from happening again.**

 **Rewards; + 250 Relationship with [Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youths], + 3000 Exp, + 10 Free Points.**

 **Failure; Annihilation of the Soul.**

* * *

Just from that description and reward I could tell that Fenrir had judged this to be in the upper extent of my abilities. The Only other Quest that high on rewards was the Quest to uncover my Hidden Traits, which was a seven month long venture still on going. Not even to mention what happened if I fucking Failed. Not gonna lie, I have no idea what _Soul Destruction_ entails, but I wasn't about to find out without some effort to avoid it.

I exited out of the Notification and spoke aloud, deciding that they needed some explanation before they decided to skin me alive, "No, I just remembered that I needed to talk to Miss Mourie about something," I grimaced as I looked down at Tank as he began hoovering up the mess of food, "Sorry about the Table, but I gotta go. See ya later," I explained in a rush as I stood, feverish to get some answers out of the only person that would be likely to have them.

 **[Instinct]** began blaring out, my mind only after that unnatural display able to keep up with the deluge of information. There was something happening, something that was trying to influence _**my People**_. Made them act out, made them forget, and only happenstance had stopped it once.

I needed to stop it from happening ever again. No room for maybes, buts, or next times. I feel the straining of my Aura as it pulsed up from the base of spine and radiated the Cold chill of Determination throughout my being. The thoughts that had fueled me since I was a child lost in the woods, simply wracking my brain to move my feet one more step, one more step, _one more step_ , filled me once again.

The whisperings, the odd looks, the way my friends stared at my back as I fled, were my price for their protection. I'd descend to the bowels of insanity if I had to, but I'd keep them safe. They were mine, and I'd tear apart the world before I let some _cunt_ of a ghost take them from me.

* * *

I was drumming my fingers against the Table as I waited, taking the time to Level my **[Morse Code]** Language as I drummed out the exact ways I planned on butchering this ghost if I figured out how. My font of knowledge had directed me to sit down and settle down in a seat at a table in the back corner of the Library, and I was slowly lowering back down to acceptable levels of Resolute determination to drag a Ghost screaming across the line of Life and Death to beat the shit out of him.

Marsha rounded the corner to the aisle of Books that led directly to my table humming a cheery tune and carrying a steaming cup of tea. I had half a mind to jump up and slap the cup out of her hands and _shake_ the information out of her, but I had very little indication that this was a time sensitive matter. Maybe I was overreactig, but Ghost-Murder was on my mind and I wanted to know how it could be done.

And the exorcist was wasting time with Tea.

The only reason I had yet to jump up yelling was the fact that Fenrir was currently doing his best to search through… whatever the Game appeared to him as… for mentions of a skill that could achieve what I wanted. That placated me slightly, but our success rate on the task wasn't exactly comforting.

So I waited, opening my mouth to speak before closing it with a snap when she raised a single finger in the air and continued what she was doing. "Are you _serious_?" I hissed at her as she stirred and continued to ignore me.

"I was _serious_ when I told you to calm down," she retorted easily, like she didn't have me glaring a hole through her head. The only thing that helped convince me that she was taking this seriously was the fact that she had removed her glasses, revealing her once again purple eyes. A disguise I had yet to understand the utility of, because as far as I was concerned Magic was nothing but a Boon, but not a weakness or reason to target her.

At best she had _utility_ outside a normal Huntress as far as I was concerned. She wasn't being kidnapped if she could create massive gouts of fire, either that may ruin the upholstery of the Van they're using. Among other things.

With a tight smile she held up her left hand and _speaking_ lowly under her breath with a flare of her purple Aura, "... _Winds sit...,_ ' I quirked an eyebrow at what little of the Phrase my mind could translate on the fly, before lowering my line of sight to the Subtitles that I had turned on for the situation.

* * *

 **[May the Winds still in your sails, and may the winds lose your voice among the gales.]**

* * *

Slowly but surely I felt the effective range of **[Instinct]** began shrinking until it only encompassed the space immediately surrounding the table and all sounds deadened. The hair on my forearms stopped moving, something that hadn't ever occurred to me as _happening_ until it had stopped, and with it most sensation on my skin. I waved my hand in front of my face, gladdened to feel the air move around it but disconcerted none-the-less.

I watched as a book on a table nearby teetered on the edge before falling off to impact the floor, but without the noise that usually accompanied it. Like it had been muted. Or more accurately, the entire world had been. I watched the Clock as **[Instinct]** struggled to find purchase in the air only for no sound of the tiny gears and springs turing in their box. I turned around only to meet the amused eyes of 'Miss Mourie'. She twirled a finger and a wisp of wind slithered past my ear, tickling it something fierce. She laughed when I swatted at it with a curse, and I was a little relieved for the sound. "The walls have ears, but they'll hear nothing from me. No reason to ruin my long crafted cover just because some young Barbarian can't keep his mouth shut."

"Fair," I countered as I moved my hands towards the edge of where my hearing stopped functioning, before I hit a barrier with the tips of my fingers. Dead air. Not quite a force field, but definitely able to be felt, and as I pushed against it more a Lance of Cold shot through my hand causing me to yank it back with a hiss. Fifty health down the drain, for poking the air. Bizarre. "What the hell are you doing?" I questioned in wonder, not even bothering to hide my amazement.

"A perfect blend of Magic and Science," She responded with barely hidden glee, and as normal I saw the excited way she approached teaching overcoming her more serious tone, "Those that came before me called to the wind for ferocious storms and crosswinds to destroy their enemies, but they didn't have any science to explain or bolster what they were doing," Her eyes were literally twinkling as she spoke about the practice, "But I do. And when I heard how the air transmitted sound by vibrating, _moving_ , the air it passed through, I figured I'd make it _stop_. Good for keeping secrets, I must admit."

She was literally locking the Air around us in a dome, not letting it compress together to transmit sound. What a bizarrely small Flex of her Magical muscles. Nothing that seemed outwardly powerful, but definitely requiring immense control. I had a feeling this was something I'd never replicate.

I shook off the distraction, recognizing it for what it was and glaring at her for it, but she gave me a self-satisfied smile in return.

"Letting your emotions control you is not a good decision for you to make," she gave me inway of explanation, "All forms of Magic require an emotional investment to work, no matter the Language or Dialect. As far as I know, most Magic came from the Older Brother and as such require a more... _pure_ Emotion as the payment. Something righteous, or without taint."

I grimaced as I connected the Dots, "But Northern came from the Younger. It _requires_ that shit," I guessed, snarling when she nodded with an apologetic smile, "Just my luck. I don't _have_ pure emotions, so my every thought can fuel some obscure necromancy, or some shit."

"Not quite," She soothed me, finally placing her cup on the Table, "It simply makes it easier for Other Speakers to find you, and you're already a beacon to anyone looking to find Speakers. In fact, you're down right hard to be around for long, it kind of makes teaching you a struggle. Thought I might as well tell you, since it was obvious that whoever taught you left it out."

"Yes, well, I highly doubt Nan thought I'd ever be a fucking Magician," I retorted acerbically before clamping down on that emotion and throwing it into the Back of my mind. Once more I pulled upon my Aura and the soothing properties that lied within to guide me back to a more reasonable state of mind. Determination, resolute and unwilling to leave me, reappeared and I used the familiar feeling to ground myself to peace.

Or my version of peace, which included the familiar thoughts of ascertaining methods to fight ghosts, but more specifically with thoughts of protecting my friends.

Marsha gave me an impressed look, "Now, that's much better. Finally living up to the Legacy of your predecessors," She spoke with sarcasm that I only returned a curious look. Not the time to take offense, not when I'm actively trying to get a grip on my emotions, "It's written that the Barbarian Speakers weren't just Mages or Scholars, but warriors. They led their Hordes from the front, and prolonged use of their Magic made them almost indistinguishable from the Undead they controlled. To avoid Speakers like myself targeting them, they developed the ability to cloak themselves by 'deadening' their emotions, and becoming closer in mind to the lifeless cadavers that they commanded. An odd experience, I must say, to watch someone disappear from my senses," She paused to take a sip, before finishing on what she obviously saw as the less important development, "And your 'Nan' would undoubtedly have known you were going to Cast Magic one day, The ability is genetic."

"It's not removing your emotions or even ignoring them," I responded casually, not at all concerned with proving her wrong, "The exact opposite. You throw yourself into the most important part of your emotions, headfirst, and fill yourself with it. Let it distill into its most pure form and use that as fuel to continue on"

And I knew this to be true, because while I focused on determination Nan had gone for a much different approach. She had been focused on her Anger most of the time. Anger at others acting a fool, anger at herself for allowing it to continue on too long, and Anger at Life for killing her slowly and painfully. She said that the Anger kept her alive much longer than it should have.

Now, having the Game spell things out a little more clearly, the **[Deadened]** Trait and those other traits like it were obviously what had fueled Nan through the latter years of her life. By internalizing her emotions she had been able to push through crippling sickness and undoubtedly depressing thoughts to keep going, to raise me as long as she could. Now, the same thing kept me on the right track, and in control of myself. I would have been dead in the water long ago had I not gained such a powerful tool early on.

And much the same as her, I paused before responding to her last statement, "I was adopted." She nearly choked on her tea when I spoke, and I was glad that the answer finally put her on the backfoot enough for me to finally bring up what was happening, "But that's not important. I didn't come here to talk about me, I came here to talk Shop. That ghost I mentioned came back, and it made everyone in the cafeteria its bitch."

Immediately she stilled before nodding, "Did everyone lock up like a statue, with glowing blue eyes?" When I nodded she sighed and motioned over her shoulder, "Yes, I had a similar experience in my second year class. After a minute they just went slack and returned to however they were before, without a single memory of what had happened. It was bizarre, and entirely new, as far as I'm concerned anyway, behavior for a ghost. I've been looking through what few records we have of this place before a few years ago to look for someone who died violently, but so far nothing has come up," A book slowly made its way towards our table before landing in her outstretched hand. She placed it on the Table and slid it over towards me, and I felt the lingering cold of passing through the still air surrounding us as I opened the thing up.

" _Ghosts of Vacuo_?" I read out loud as I stared at the inside of the Cover, which seemed to be rough hewn leather and very old pages. It felt heretical for me even to be holding the thing, and let go of it to rub at my fingers, which were beginning to tingle just from such a brief interaction.

"An old book from my Family's Collection," She responded casually, before on their own the pages began flipping to a page in the middle of the Tome. "Basically, Ghosts are people frozen in a moment of time, emotionally at least. Whatever they were feeling when they died is what they'll feel until the return to the Older Brother. Most people die sad and anxious, which is why most spirits go to the other side without assistance. The ones that stay around have important business to attend to, but they can be usually be convinced to return by a Speaker. That's what I was doing on Sunday," She explained, finally addressing what her ritual had been about, "That ritual is basically a thirty minute spiel that sings that praises of the Older Brother and the cycle of reincarnation, trying to persuade lost souls to make their way back."

Seemed fair enough, if the Southern Speakers didn't need souls like she claimed the Northern ones did. Send people on to the Older Brother, and simultaneously stop them from getting into the Hands of their enemies.

"What I need you to do is describe to me what you were feeling when the thing went on. What were you seeing, hearing, smelling and so on. It'll tell me what we're dealing with here, and potentially what we need to do to make him leave."

Thank god, progress on the 'Fuck-him-up' side of things.

And so I told her everything, with the help of Fenrir and the **[Notes]** Page, because she seemed to know what she was doing, and that was good enough for me.

* * *

Amber eyes watched from behind glasses as her Partner sat on the other side of the Library, talking without making noise with an equally quiet Miss Mourie. After he had run off from the Cafeteria she had tracked him down to make him apologize _correctly_ to the rest of the Team and Team TESL as well just for making her get on her hands and knees to clean up some spilled food. The absolute nerve of the man.

But when she had stalked into the Library she was not assaulted by Miss Mourie and her cheery smile or a book about the History of the School as she was likely to do. Instead she found the place empty, and there was a very subtle feeling of _wrongness_ in the air as she stood by the front door. But who was the _air_ to tell her where she could not go? She was here for a reason, and that reason was to humiliate her partner.

After a moment of searching she found a single well lit table that was sequestered away in the back of the Room, with Austin and the Teacher chatting away, but she was peeved to notice a lack of sound. She even called out in her anger, but neither seemed to hear her. Instead, the only sound that came was the whistling of something behind her. She ducked as a Book flew over head to the outstretched hand of Miss Mourie, and after a moment Austin gave the lady a small smile.

It made her blood boil, that smile.

He should've been angry or embarrassed because she had caught him, but here he was. Ignoring her as usual. He didn't need anything, so he was somewhere else.

' _Who does he think he is?_ ' whispered a malicious part of her, in the back of her head. ' _You're a great partner, and yet who does he spend his time with? Anyone else. Such a shame._ ' With a blink she stepped away frowning, wondering where the thought had come from. Austin was many things, but he wasn't a bad partner. Nor a bad friend, he was there when she needed something, and had saved her life multiple times. This wasn't right.

Something wasn't right. She wasn't malicious, usually, but she was _never_ envious. That implied that others had something you wanted, were _better_ than her, and that was not true. ' _And yet he spends time with Taylor over you,_ ' The voice responded, sounding so much like her own, and yet so foreign, ' _And now a teacher before his partner. He should be with you, talking to you, not those harlots._ '

That… was true. Was she not his Partner? His Leader? His **Better**? He should be begging for time with her, not having her chase him down. She scowled at his back and tried to keep the heat threatening to burst into flames in some type of check as her blood boiled in her veins.

' _You could change that, you know,_ ' It whispered once more, the voice sounding as smooth as silk as it slithered through her brain, ' _It's simple,_ ' It reasoned as it began to lay out its plan for her, ' _He chooses to spend time with others because he simply isn't convinced that you are the best choice. Prove it, and this will never be an issue again. He'll never leave you behind because you can't fight, never leave you behind because you can't move fast enough, or even just to spend time with another if there is no one else to spend time with._ '

Yes, this voice must surely be hers, for it made too much sense to be anyone else's. The corners of her **blue** eyes crinkled in joy as she turned around and left the Building to devise her Plan.

It was not the first of plans being concocted by students across the campus that night, nor would it be the last to come in the coming week.

With only two people being none the wiser to the goings on of the School.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 _Ghoooooosts._

 _As someone pointed out, their favorite part of the story was brutality and bloodshed._

 _Well now the entire population of a school dedicated to fighting monsters is possessed, as determined as our Protagonist, and out for blood. That's a pretty good formula for some brutality. Should be fun, and also a good foil to have play out against the un-possessable Austin._

 _A guest left a question about the BFS and Projection in general, basically saving a blueprint means that it takes a fraction of the time to project, but still has the same cost as before. It does_ _ **not**_ _however make his bones brittle or weak because it is projecting_ _ **new**_ _bone as stated in the description of the Skill. Literally just new bone that was created for the purpose of making a sword, created from the Energies of Hp and Stm._

 _Also, as you can see, Austin is not going about Magical studies in the traditional Gamer way of experimentation. This will not be changing._

 _Taylor is a Brown Fox Faunus, and the comment on squirrel Faunus was aimed at her Tail accessory that she wore in the beginning._

 _Thanks for reading, as always leave a review if you have comments, questions, or concerns etc._

 _Alright, That's all for now._

 _Jericho Out._


	34. Level 3: Part 4

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _This was an odd place._

 _The hospital hadn't had nearly this many people, let alone_ _ **children**_ _. I could only watch as the small voice that barked and whispered in the back of my head demanded that I give chase to them as they ran around the yard, but I ignored it like usual until it fell into the back of my mind, forgotten and silent compared to my own thoughts._

 _For example; Why did they run? That was a waste of energy if their feet had no destination._

" _ **Whelp**_ _." Came the sharp word from an inch from my left ear. I flinched away from the old hag that had decided to watch over me, throttling down with enormous effort to keep in the reactive growl that threatened to escape me. The Nurses had given me odd looks when I had done that to them, and had threatened to not give me food._

 _I had decided to clamp down on the tendency since the threat._

" _I need_ _ **you**_ _," She thumped a calloused finger into my chest with enough force to make me take a step back, "To go in there." She pointed with the same finger towards the building that stood behind that children filled yard, and I grimaced at it. I could smell the underlying scent of dirt and grime, things that immediately brought up memories of a rumbling stomach and numerous passings of what meager food I had been eating._

 _That was the smell of an early death, and I wanted nothing to do with the place that housed it._

" _Why?" I questioned out loud, the word scratching its way out of my throat like it was covered in razor blades. Dehydration hadn't been kind to me._

" _Because I have a mountain of paperwork to do and the Law says you gotta go to school," She explained plainly, and I made a point not to stare at the way her face was marked and scarred because only a week or two ago they had been open wounds. Wounds she had received while carrying me to safety. But she was far form the only one who had come out of the situation unscathed. Her Gravel coloured eyes showed no condemnation though, only pity, "So in the school you go, kiddo."_

 _And like that she had walked me inside, nearly throwing me at the nearest person before walking off to do whatever she was going to do. I highly doubted it was paperwork, though. All of the People that came to see her in the hospital had been surprised that she was allowing herself to stay there instead of at a bar._

 _They had been even more surprised when she named me as the reason for her stay, and then named me Family._

 _Honestly, Family didn't mean much to me, and the word made more pain in my head than any type of recognition. Family? Blood? What a stupid reason to spend time with someone. I agreed to stay around her because she had done me a good turn, and continued to listen to her because I could see the difference between her and those around her. The way she moved, watched her surroundings, and was just generally prepared._

 _She was a survivor, just like me. The voice in my head, the same scratchy one that I was forced to speak with at the moment, said that she was_ _ **Pack**_ _. Not Family, bound by words and law. Not Blood, bound by biology and the lottery of birth._

 _ **Pack**_ _._

 _Bound by choice and circumstances, those that move in the same direction. Fought each other's fights, saved each others hides, and then licked our own wounds in the same place. And while those that came to see her were joyful to see her alive, she chose me over them. No reason to assign her reasoning, if she wanted me to know she'd tell me. Until then, I'd operate as the whispering voice in the back of my head suggested._

 _A mode of being that I couldn't see in the children around me._

" _Well hello there!" Came a cheery voice from the room that I was shuffled towards coming from a chunky woman with short brown hair. She waved off the pot bellied man who had been asked to walk me to my chosen room and leaned down to stick her face right into mine. Only with extreme amounts of willpower did I manage to clamp down on the bubbling anger, at the aggressive advance into my space._

 _She was not tense, nor did she look like she could chase me down like the things in the snow. She was not a threat, but she was at least triple my weight and double my height. That she could simply fall over on me was a threat, so I think the reaction was alright. I simply was not used to being in a herd. And that was what this was, I decided with a grimace at how unfocused the group of kids behind the lady were._

 _The voice, my conscious, survival instinct, or whatever it is, said that this was what happened when food was too plentiful for an animal. They grew dull and unable to properly face the world. That their world was basically made of foam did not help them. "And who are you?" And so began the wringer of questions. She politely avoided the_ _ **important**_ _questions like a dunce. She was going to let a pack animal into her herd without so much as a question about my numerous cuts and bruises. To her I was just another little animal to be herded back into line._

 _What a naive lady._

 _There was no place in my head for that line of thought, I guess. I couldn't even try to hold the line of thought that something wasn't a threat based on_ _ **no**_ _evidence. Even these children, who were scarier than the adults. The adults were actual herd animals while the children still had the instincts and had yet to have them dulled over time. I watched as one little boy stared with greedy eyes at some toy that a girl held, and was entirely unsurprised when he snatched it out of her hands. They wanted, and saw no reason to wait or ask._

 _I could hear the voice in the back of my head gaining steam, scratchy and high pitched and entirely mine. This wasn't my home, filled with my family, or filled with my blood. And it certainly wasn't anywhere near my_ _ **Pack**_ _._

 _But the Old Hag wanted me here, and she might not be able to find me if I left. Might as well listen to this herd leader, who claimed to have knowledge for me to learn._

 _She didn't look like she could teach me which berries were dangerous, I learned that from a slow squirrel. She didn't seem like she could teach me how to catch fish in a cold river, I taught myself. And she certainly didn't look like she could teach me how to outrun a predator, the black wolf taught me that._

 _But I'd sit and wait, in this room full of unfocused little creatures and bury myself in my lessons from the world while pretending that the cattle trying to teach me was any bit important. I was not a part of their herd nor did I plan on changing that. I would have no part in that, I decided when the Lady purposefully dulled one of the other children's instincts, told him to give up what he had to make another one stop crying. Why was her tears his problem?_

 _Because a Herd could not live without unity of thought or emotion. Each member must be willing to give of their own for the sake of the herd. Because herds actively threw their members under the bus, unlike packs. In a pack, it was a group of individuals aiming at the same goal, often survival, while herds moved as a single entity. One of the herd lost to predators or to the world was like losing hair, unimportant in the long run. As long as the whole survived in someway it was considered a success. A Pack required all of its parts, a herd did not._

 _I would not be part of something that would leave me behind the moment I wasn't needed._

 _But herds are deadly, the voice warned. A stampede was worse than a predator any day. And when the will, the focus, or even just the patience of the children around me left their heads, I would_ _ **not**_ _be their victim. They would not find me underfoot when they panicked, nor would they find me following or joining in._

 _This place, this herd, was only a moment, quick to flee._

 _The Pack was eternal._

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

Shebul was having a rough time of it.

And for the first time in a long time it wasn't the lack of sleep. Thankfully the temperature was rising, reaching the heights for the Frozen Sands on some days, nearly _pleasant_ to most of the people on campus. Being a Native, he comfortable to be outside, meaning he was comfortable watching the Campus whenever he had the time.

People-watching was something he could any day, no matter how many days without sleep he was.

It was… some emotion that arose from the sights of people training and preparing for the last Month of tooling around the sands, hunting Grimm like the mercenaries the School treated them as.

On one hand, more training and preparation meant less people dying, so it could be seen as a good thing.

On the other…

" **You Idiot!** " The shrill cry erupted from merely fifty feet away, and Shebul was not surprised to find his Partner in the middle of screeching like a banshee at Taylor. The two had been exchanging forms from the respective ways that they fought, mostly footwork if he were honest. Emily had been… _incensed_ for the last few days, and like a fire had been lit under her ass she had been absolutely demolishing books in efforts to read and nothing short of aggressive in her demands to spar with our classmates.

It was a bizarre thing to see, his partner who was usually the composed and polite member of their Team now chomping at the bit to get at whatever she had her eye on.

What was even more bizarre was that _no one_ was even looking at the two weird.

This fire… that wasn't the right word.

Zeal. The students were becoming Zealots, devoted to whatever they were doing. In fact, Taylor was just as wrapped up in the craze as Emily, only calmly nodding in response when she normally would have snapped with just as much anger as Emily was radiating. Her eyes were much deeper blue than normal, almost mirroring Emily's in the bright light of the noon-time sun. She nodded, easily parsing through the insults to the corrections in her form that Emily was shouting at her.

The only people who seemed to be immune to the Zealotry that was running rampant around the Campus were those who had yet to hit Puberty, as a pair of children were sitting down with their lunch right next to Luca just to watch the fireworks of his fiery partner. Luca's new found obsession, unlike Emily and Taylor's fixation on combat training, was overcoming his crutch of a Semblance.

Namely, by meditating like a Mistralian Monk.

He was doing his utmost best to imitate a statue, humming some low sound to himself like Shebul had suggested in an attempt to block out noise. He had revealed that any information at all would trigger it if he let his control slip for even a second, and had been attempting to enter a zen like mode of focus on anything but external stimuli.

In other words, the pair of children were seeing how much of their trash and school supplies they could stack on his head before he moved.

Shebul smiled, a thing that he did so little of his face hurt from the effort. He would like to say that being able to see the changes in the others meant that he was somehow immune, but that would be a lie. That he paid attention long enough to notice was proof enough that he was changing, and he wasn't sure he liked where he was heading. He was thinking kinder thoughts than he usually let himself, much more positive than usual as well. For instance, he would usually have called this random spurt of training worthless and more damaging than helpful, but here he was, watching and taking notes on what both Emily and Taylor needed to do to improve.

He was even beginning to miss the Spirits, despite all the nightmares they had brought him over the years. Just thinking that left a bad taste in his mouth, as just before they had fled they had reached a number he had never seen before leaving him a hot mess flinching at every source of light on Campus.

And now, here he was, worrying after them like they were Winston when he was trying and failing to get on a bed with his short, stubby, _cute-_ stop that. He was pitiful and they weren't things to be pitied. They were people that were in need of spiritual guidance to the Brother's, not his pets. Who cared if they disappeared off the face of the earth the moment the living started acting screwy.

He did, and he could barely make himself scowl in disgust.

By the Brother's, he was **screwed**.

* * *

 _End of Interludes_

* * *

The smell of old paper was beginning to eat at me, and the yellow-orange light of old lightbulbs made my eyes water, but still I kept reading on. I read and I read for a week straight. Classes were ignored in favor of the threat on the horizon, and I banked on the fact that everyone else seemed to be on their A-games to help me cram the night before our tests slated for two weeks from today.

Now, all of the deep diving into an obscure occult language had brought one important revelation.

"The hell is a... _Sluagh_?" I demanded as I rapped my knuckles on the book in my hand in irritation before closing it and placing it on the table in front of me. I gripped the bridge of my nose and squeezed my eyes shut as my **[Deadened]** aura took away the building headache like a deli slicer, one slice at a time. My eyes slowly opened to once more go over the spines of the books, the towers of them, that were on my Table.

 _Taibhsean_ , said one. _Uilebheistean_ , said another.

 _Gibberish_ , said my brain.

That was the issue, I had found out in the past few days. I might be able to _speak_ and all of that magical horseshit, but I couldn't read the Old tongue if my life depended on it. It was almost as if it were a **dead language or something**. Either way, Nan's method of teaching didn't work well for reading and writing due to my hands usually being preoccupied with defending against her, while my eyes were too busy watching body language on the off chance she telegraphed a movement slowly enough for me to catch.

It was basically reciting words out loud while having the shit kicked out of me, because as she put it, ' _If you can remember with a concussion, you can remember whenever you want_.' And then she kicked me so hard I went through a tree.

...Looking back, maybe it wasn't entirely my fault that I learned so little of the Old Tongue.

Either way I looked at the screen I had open and grunted at the thing, hoping that it would change in response.

* * *

 **[Old Vacuoan] cannot be learned, Stat requirements Not Met; 25 Wis.**

 **Max number of Languages; 2.**

* * *

I couldn't even really fault The Game for the restriction, two was probably two too many for my stats, if were being realistic. With a sigh I moved it out of view and waited for Fenrir to get back to me.

That was another revelation that came from this venture; Fenrir **loved** puzzles. No idea why, certainly something that I had impressed upon the guy, as I **loathed** the things. The closest to a reason he could give me was that ' **It's like a hunt, but without the possibility of going hungry or dying** ,' whatever that meant. I guess he liked having something to do though, because unlike how he usually spent his time, _Napping_ , he was now extremely engaged in what I was doing.

Apparently he was treating the whole thing like a word puzzle, which meant that he was enjoying himself and would be chock full of things to occupy his attention for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately...

* * *

 **[Alright Boss, just the one journal left. Smells just as old as that last one too, so here's hoping its similar enough for some comparison.]**

* * *

There was no way of downloading books into my Memory without magic or some extremely specific Skill. Fenrir only got a set of three question marks when he searched the system for it; one for the name, one for the Stat requirements, and the last for the actual fucking effects. The Game wasn't letting us near that page anytime soon, that was for certain.

This meant that I was flipping through each book in Marsha's collection like a photocopier to capture all the reference material for Fenrir to deal with.

To do so he was parsing through every single _bloody_ training day I spent with Nan on that _Brothers_ -Forsaken hill, going through sounds I had heard without understanding through the pain or ringing in my ears. With a grimace, I opened up my **[Notes]** page for **[The Old Tongue]** and watched as the words flowed into the screen like someone typing into a text document on a scroll. No actual recognition in my brain as he wrote out the syntax rules as she found them and probable translations as they occurred to him, simply symbols in a **[Notes]** page.

The hope was that if he learned the Language to a passable extent I could look at some Ancient Vacuoan Text and he could be my on the fly translator, not even to mention the remote possibility of him casting Magic inside my head or some nonsense. I mean, we were technically the Same soul and all of that, so who knows.

On another Note, as I had been quickly filling up my **[Veteran's Intuition]** Skill tree, the same one I had neglected ever since I had received it while reading about Grimm on the Mount, as I skimmed through these books. I was surprised to find that the System counted it, but I wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth and all that. I had a healthy five percent reduction from ghost punches to show for my photocopying, which wasn't a bad haul, all things considered.

And with a twitch of my right eye the thought reared its head once more, ' _What the Hell is a_ _ **Sluagh**_ _?_ '

I'd been trying to avoid the thought for the past few hours, but it always came back up to the surface. The reason I was avoiding thinking about the _only piece of information_ I had on my current dilemma of 'Haunted-Ass-School' was because that didn't help me if I couldn't read the book on the son-of-a-bitch.

I was _real_ happy when Marsha had given me that little nugget of information before revealing that she had no real experience dealing with _hostile_ spirits. Apparently this was a rare case inside of a rare case, and I couldn't even find the optimist in me to _act_ surprised for the Lady. Call me a cynic on this one, but I had come to the conversation about widespread Ghosts _assuming_ that this was outside the norm.

But no, that was just me apparently. Marsha had thought I was overreacting until my entire class had an epileptic stroke in front of her eyes.

I'd like to think that the display had convinced her of the seriousness of the situation. Convinced her enough to leave me with her entire library of hand-written Generational tomes of Shaman's eons past, at least.

Searching for the Recipe for dead… ' _ **Sluagh**_ ', whatever _that_ happened to be. There was no dictionary for a buried and long dead language, so I guess I'd just have to wait for my 'translator' to get back to me on that one.

What I did know was that they were a type of Dead thing that enjoyed making others into Dead things. Usually, and I quote, "through the duplicitous act of emotional manipulation and possession."

Lovely.

I continued to flip through the last book monotonously, my eyes taking barely a moment to trace the symbols without trying to find any meaning in them, as my mind began to settle down from the 'Studying' that I was doing in preparation of finally being done with my end of translation.

Half an hour later Fenrir was satisfied and busy, and I was free from my prison. I stuffed the pile of books into the Cabinet that Marsha had removed them from, located in her office/bedroom that was connected to the Library through a single metal door. I assumed that no else was aware of the glowing blue sigils on the inner side of the door. She waved me away with a tired hand, not even bothering to acknowledge me as she drowsily graded papers at her desk, but over the week we had fallen into a bit of a pattern so I wasn't overly bothered.

All they did was remind me that, despite how serious the situation was, Marsha was still treating it like an 'eventually' as opposed to the 'sometime soon' that I _knew_ that it was. Even if it was an eventually kind of problem, that was no excuse to procrastinate on solving it. Snuff it out at the source and be done with the entire thing.

But being senior exorcist between the two of us, she claimed that possessions took one hell of a long time, ranging from subtly guiding the living into making self-destructive choices to literal body-snatching, but all of them took at least a year to be of any true consequence. And as she saw no evidence that the Sluagh could activate its semblance from beyond the grave, she was free to wait it out. She reasoned that if the ghost was possessing the student body in general then she'd postpone action until the next Field Study month, when there would be fewer students on campus to be involved.

Sounds nice and logical.

And it made my fingers tingle in worry. The thought of sitting and waiting out the last two weeks of our study month was more haunting than the ghost at this point. And so I demanded that I at least be allowed to read the stuff she had on Ghosts, and she agreed to let me. Unfortunately she had exactly zero free time to help teach me, so I was stuck on my lonesome.

Or as alone as I could be, with the furball in my attic.

I pushed out in the Predawn air of the courtyard, and nearly tripped over someone on the steps. The figure squeaked as I stepped away from her as she threw her hands over her face, before pitifully falling backwards off of the first step onto her rear. Clinically my senses broke down her appearance and put the bits of information through my memory to see if I recognized the Girl. Red hair, shorter than Ashley but still taller than Cosma, and the patch on her uniform's left shoulder said she was a communications Major.

Within seconds I came to the conclusion that I didn't know her, and simply hopped down the stairs and hauled her up to her feet with an apology. "That's okay," she responded in a tone of voice that was light and airy, which I recognized as someone who had just been scared. With a grunt I moved off and left her to whatever she was doing in the Library this early in the morning, because whatever it was had to be important.

With a casual thought **[Instinct]** extended into my surroundings, and the thumping of the headache that came with casual use of the Skill resounded as the information flowed in. I endured it like I always did for the few seconds it took to search for a set of noises or voices on the campus before bringing the Skill back down to acceptable levels. I had stopped keeping the Skill active at all times to stop me from being subjected to the sounds of the dorms, as it seemed with the coming Spring so had an active libido in most of the Teenagers of the Campus, as well as one or two of the Teachers.

I had no desire to be serenaded by a chorus of those noises all night, and mornings on Weekends, so I was forced to use **[Instinct]** sparingly. Thankfully the Combat Dorm, which was entirely within my Passive listening range, seemed to be filled with people more dedicated to becoming Huntsmen than courting the opposite sex and thankfully less of _that_. Still, with the longer hours of sunlight in the Desert had come a willingness of every goddamned person on the Campus to stay awake, and even the Hunter Corps wasn't immune to that pull, staying up all night to study or train.

I was honestly impressed at the strides that people were making, as well.

Every member of Team TESL had gone up at least four levels in two weeks, which I was unsure if that was supposed to be possible. Cosma had gone up two, though in what stats she had progressed was a mystery, because she wasn't doing any overly troubling physical training, nor studying hard. Too wrapped up in her dog training. Roman hadn't stopped trying to perfect his Aura Empowerment technique that everyone used to move faster than was supposed to be possible, while Ash had taken his spot as the plotter of our group.

All in all, it wasn't that bad of a two week period, except I hadn't been able to progress with them, instead stuck in a building staring at… _paper_.

Blegh. It made me nauseous to even think about the last two weeks.

But no more, I decided resolutely as I pushed into our dorms, Today I would see how far they had made strides even if I had to beat the answers out of them.

* * *

"A spar," I repeated, dumbfounded, "With me." Roman simply nodded, not a inkling of understanding on his face as he continued to stretch. Cosma simply continued to smile as she threw treats to Tank when he followed her orders. Narrowing my eyes at the two I pulled up the Quest Notification for training the thing, and could only squint in consternation.

* * *

 **Quest Updated; [Dog Days]!**

 _ **This… is supposed to take longer, isn't it?**_

 **-Raise [?(Your Nemesis)] to Level 10 by the end of the year! [7/10]**

 **-Achieve [Trusted] Status with [?(Your Nemesis)] by the end of the Year! [177 points left.]**

 **-Teach [?(Your Nemesis)] by the end of the year; Sit, Stay, Heel, and Sic. Only [Sic] remains.**

 **Rewards; Increased Relationship with [?(Your Nemesis)], Increased Relationship with Team ACR(A), and +1000 Exp.**

* * *

 **[Tank]**

 **[Level 7 Stuffawler Pup]**

 **[** _ **Strong Like Bull**_ **]**

 **[Liked (Level 2); 74/250]**

"Uhhhhhh," I drawled as I closed the Notification, staring uncomprehendingly at the Dog that now looked like it was waist high and weighed as much as Cosma. What was she feeding it? _Grimm_? I shook away the odd sight and let my eyes return to Roman, who was waiting patiently for me to spar with me. Which was… new. His eyes were Green, and he was moving smoothly instead of spazzing the fuck out, so I ruled out Possession just based on the small bit of information Marsha had provided me with. I could see no reason to not agree, it had been my goal walking into the room, after all, but his new drive to do the same had me at a loss. "Sure," I agreed with a shrug, "But… uh… you always say no when I ask you. Why the change of heart?"

"I hadn't had enough time to find out how to fight you," He replied simply.

"I have a feeling that you'll need a second pair of eyes for this," Ashley drawled from her Bed, "Might as well come along." Thank the gods. At least my Partner could see something off in him, if _I_ could see it then undoubtedly she could as well. Honestly, of all the people on Campus, she seemed to be the _least_ affected by the change in seasons, or whatever was happening to the population.

Late Puberty, perhaps.

The most change I'd seen in her was that she had taken to reading outside when me and Taylor were sparring.

" _Please_ ," I bit out lowly as Roman began grabbing his stuff and began rushing me to go outside.

And that's how I found myself behind the Maintenance Building with Ashley standing off to the side while Roman extended his Weapon. My eyes were immediately drawn to the new changes, the lack of the Crook at the end and the shortening of the shaft in general. He now leaned against it as he stared me down, and I realized that this must have been what it was like to actually fight the guy. I'd heard it described before, Taylor even calling it unsettling how different he acted during a fight.

He specialized in Feints, in all ways that it could be interpreted. Emotion without effect, swing without power, defend only to attack, and attack only to defend. He focused on disruption, counters and long, _long_ , term planning. Whatever it took to defeat someone that he assumed was stronger than him. A fighting style that could loosely be termed as weaponized cunning.

"Basic rules," Ashley spoke from where she was leaning against the wall of the Maintenance Building, "No Maiming, No lethal shots, and don't stop until the other yields," She waved her hand, her eyes sharpening when she looked at me, and I was entirely oblivious to whatever message she was trying to send. I couldn't even take time to decipher it as Roman began to spin his weapon in his hand. It was with a sinister tone of voice that Ashley called for the start of the fight, obviously finding something amusing in this interaction.

Alright then, I was on my own. Time to test the waters.

I unslung my chain with a few rolls of my wrist and was unsurprised that despite how eager my opponent was for the spar, he did not get in close while I was preparing. Instead he stuck his weapon in the ground and pulled out a thick pair of leather gloves, and I began going through the reasons that he might possibly bring his forging gloves out into a fight. With a mighty pull of my left arm my chain scythed back around my head, following me as I hopped forward in a lunge, pushing towards Roman with my hand. The chain rattled forward like a freight train and as the last links zoomed towards Roman as he braced himself with his Weapon in defense, before he leaned back and let the links wrap around the haft of his cane.

With a smile he pressed a button that I had assumed was the trigger for the firing mechanism, and I could only grit my teeth as a surge of current struck my arm dead in the water. The smell of ozone filled the air as the telltale signs of Yellow dust being used floated away on the morning breeze. With a grunt I pulled, but the new rounded design of the weapon made the links slide off ineffectually and instead I began spinning my weapon above my head in preparation for a probing attack from Roman, who had scored first blood.

I couldn't disarm him like others in class, it seemed that he had prepared for it.

The end of the weapon swiftly traveled upwards to aim at my face and he gracefully bounced to my right as a heavy bullets impacted against my skin, but I ignored them as my jacket dealt with the impacts and prevented any significant damage. Instead I let my weapon loose from right hand with the momentum I had been holding by spinning it above my head, watching clinically as he danced out of the way of the heavy blow.

I followed his lead and spun to my right, ripping the chain from its path and flying towards the back of his head at disastrous speed, but he simply let the end hit his cane and catching the disastrous end in his right hand before my arm went numb once more. With a smirk he looked at me, as though to ask if I were serious, but I responded in kind by whipping out the handcannon from its holster and winking at him.

I planted the first bullet between his eyes but missed the next two as he flowed with the momentum of blow to roll away from me. When he came up kneeling and gripping his Cane like a shotgun I pulled my chain back with all my strength like a plow through the sand, causing a curtain of the stuff to erupt in between same high caliber bullets carved through in their path towards me, but I simply protected my eyes as the Dust explosions coated my right with various sensations while even more sand swirled into the air around me, effectively blinding me to the world outside.

My ears twitched as I heard the sound of clinking glass and threw myself backwards in a clumsy roll as a globe of Aura coated in Red Dust crashed into the space where I had been standing. I turned my eyes away and tried to blink out the sand as more globes hit around me before finally deciding that I'd be better fighting blind, let **[Instinct]** guide me and all of that. My eyes would need a good rinsing before I could use them anytime soon.

Like a mallet hitting the sand to my right I spun towards the sound of a footstep and into the swift blow from the cane. I barely caught it on my pistol as it tore through the air at my right ear, but the blow held no weight and instead an aura coated punch lifted me off the ground and threw me back a few paces. I stayed on my feet and fired off a few shots towards where he had been and was rewarded by the sound of him sliding towards me.

I pumped aura into the ground beneath my feet in that simple technique that Team TESL had taught me for sand sledding, hardening it until it no longer slid like it should have. With an overhand blow I swung my chain for all I was worth where the sound had stopped, but was only rewarded by the sound of breaking glass and an explosion in his place. I held firm against the wave of force as I realized what was happening.

The cheeky fucker was using my senses against me. With a growl I spun my chain at stomach height in an arc in front of me, roaring in frustration when I heard him laughing at my rage. With practiced ease I reeled in my chain and clicked it together around my fist. If I was more of a danger to myself with the extra reach, then I wouldn't have it. And I guess I needed my eyes if he were trying to fake me out with sound tricks and lowered visibility.

With a flicker of Aura I opened my eyes in **[Night Vision]** and with all the particles that were already there it was an inevitability that they blew out of my sockets. In a shower of gore and blood I felt my body replacing them, but I knew the event would be easily seen as a sign of weakness from my opponent. With the Aura that I had already pumped into the ground I activated **[Shatter]** , chuckling darkly as my barely formed eyes caught him being thrown back with the explosion of dirt and sand. With a lunge I followed him through the air, rearing back my hand, ready to melt his nose.

And through barely formed corneas I perceived the face of my Teammate as we fell through the air, and was surprised to see the same manic smile that I wore in spars plastered onto his face even as his Orange Aura blazed into effect around his chest and arms.

I smashed my fist into his hasty block, sending him crashing down in another explosion of dust braided together with the sound of his Aura breaking. Without any flourish or cleaning I stuffed my pistol back into its place as the bubbling of my blood began to be hard to ignore, but goddamn I hadn't been pushed like this in a long time. From within the cloud of dust he thrust forward, holding his cane like a rapier as he slid across the ground in some Aura technique that I was unable to place.

As the tip came in I noticed the Yellow light that shone from the end, and channeled my aura to my hands as best I could in response. I grinned when I slapped the tip across my body with only a small explosion of my aura instead of locking up, as he obviously expected, but he recovered flawlessly despite it. His weapon spun with the force of the explosion in a reverse blow that arced once more towards my right ear. My right swayed back to meet it and I winced as electricity arced from his weapon to my body through my unprotected forearm, before I stepped forward to plant my fist into his stomach.

He surprised me by turning with the punch, allowing him to stay mostly in place as I closed the distance and slapped a dust round into my face with the palm of his hand. With a roar, I pushed through the small explosion with eyes that refused to close as I honed in on my target. My left hand gripped him by the shirt while my right balled through the muscle contractions of being tazed and soared into his face.

As I huffed and puffed through a feral smile that had appeared at the taste of my own blood, I checked my HUD to see exactly how well he had done.

 **[Hp: 43459/57934]**

He had managed to take me down thirteen thousand Hp, all damage of which was done with Dust and Aura manipulation. Damn good work if I say so myself. Even Ashley had trouble doing that much damage and her Semblance was entirely geared towards one of my blindspots, Elemental Damage.

And Roman had pushed me just as hard on his first try, all due to what I assumed was planning and observing. By the Brothers.

With a laugh I swatted away the glorified stun baton as he stumbled towards me, clocking him in the face with my left fist, "What are ya doin' boio? You're done for, stay down," Though that was definitely one of his more impressive traits compares to the other Hunters-in-training on Campus; His ability to take a hit. He was quick, could take a hit, and if you gave him enough time he'd figure a way around or through a problem.

It was great to finally witness it firsthand.

From the ground he sat up and gripped his Weapon, barely taking time to expel the glob of mucus, sand and blood from his nose before standing once more, "I can't stop, it's like Ashley said; we go until one of us yields. I won't get better unless I can beat you, and I won't stop until I do, or you beat me unconscious. Besides, I could do this all day," I barked a laugh at the statement as I took in the way his weapon shook in his two handed grip. Obviously he was lying, but entirely willing to try one last time.

"The hell's jumped up your ass?" I questioned as I ducked under a chop towards my head before catching a shaky an ineffectual slash on my left forearm. The new zeal to beat me, or just to get stronger it was unclear which, was something that I had always seen in him, though in a much more cerebral way. It was why I had assumed he had refused to fight me before, too much time spent observing and not enough dealing with me.

I sent a look over to Ashley, but she was also watching curiously. So she had no idea what this was about either.

"Trust me," He grit out as he yanked the weapon out of my grasp before coming back to engage in a style of fighting that looked more like a Mistralian Swordsman than the fencer's pose that he usually had. Wide and swift chops and swings came towards me, but I simply met each with my forearms or hands as he choked out the rest of his sentence, "When I say that you wouldn't understand."

With a huffed laugh at the stupid sentence and planted my foot into his chest with what for me was considered a weak kick, but one that still sent him rolling back from the force, "Won't know unless you try. If I understand what you want, I can help you get it." I floated the offer past him, not really knowing if he'd accept it. This behavior wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for the guy, but usually it was much quieter than this.

"Fine," He relented verbally while still trying his best poke my eyes out, but I was the master of small movements. His blows slid off ineffectually against m,y **[Iron Skin]** , entirely willing to play this game with him despite the fact that I had only done it as training with Taylor and Ashley before. Where he had seen it I had no idea, but he followed the rules perfectly; No body blows, only aim for the eyes. He was pretty good too, but unfortunately for him my other partners were better at trying to gouge my eyes out.

After a minute or two of trying futilely he stopped, before bending over at the waist and vomiting into the sand from the exertion. He took two steps away from the puddle before his legs gave out and he fell face first onto the ground, barely able to turn himself over to stare up at the sky. "I need to be a Hero," He explained concisely around great big gulps of air, not even bothering with any preamble, "As in, _visibly_. I need people to recognize me, I need people to request my help, and I need to be paid for it. Specifically in that order as well."

I looked down at him with a quirked eyebrow, wondering where he was going with this. Because if there was one thing I knew that he was not, it was self-absorbed. Attention wasn't his end game, it seemed that the Money was, for whatever reason. I pulled my Pistol out once more and began to brush off the sand and filings where they were stuck to the gunmetal gray piece while he got his breath back in his lungs. I sent a look over at Ashley, and she pushed off the wall and made her way over to us, staring him down the entire time.

I mean, if anyone was actually obliged to help the man out it was our Team Leader.

"It's why I plan everything out," He said raggedly, the exertion now taking a toll on his voice as he tried to explain adequately, "It's been that way for years now, I've tried to make sure everything looked right. Everything turned out right, and everyone knew that I would do what I needed to get things done," he began coughing and when I noticed that his right arm was twitching ineffectually I rolled him over onto his side so he could properly expel the rest of his stomach.

"You know, this is why Mr. G has us go until our Aura is in the red," Ashley told him with a small cruel smile on her face, as though she was being vindicated by what was happening to him. Her Amber eyes drifted up to me and her smile changed, no longer cruel for me as she gave him a breather and explained what she could, "But yes, Roman, much like most of the people in the Hunter Corps, has been trying to act like what he considers a Hero for the past eight years. He believes that someone who has control over themselves and their surroundings make the best heroes, and that's why he has such a… Fixation on planning." The way she spoke made me think that she wasn't exactly disagreeing with the guy.

With a flop Roman fell back onto his back, but I immediately Dragged him up so that we could drag him over to one of the Chairs that were stacked and thrown around by the Maintenance department nearby. He slumped into a chair with a sigh, and I could see his Aura bringing some sensation back to his limbs as he clenched his hands and moved in his seat with a hiss, but he settled after a minute to let his Aura finally catch up to his exertion.

"I mean that's nice," I finally responded, after no one spoke for a few moments and I felt entirely unsatisfied with what I had been told, "But what does that have to do with beating me?"

"He's being childish," Ashley replied petulantly, to which Roman let out a hoarse chuckle in response, "Not that he isn't always, what with clinging to the notion that we made when we were _nine_ , but even more so recently."

"My arms won't let me say that you're wrong, they're too tired," he spoke with a smile as his arms loosely flopped around the metal bars that acted like armrests, "But yes, it's rather childish. It was one of the first things that they asked us when our year applied for the Hunter Corps, what kind of Huntsmen we wanted to be. And there was no other answer than someone who was alien to me," His voice took a turn for the worse, suddenly taking on a much darker and bitter tone as he spoke, "Someone who made the decisions, who was always in a position to do so. Someone that had the luxury to sit back and think things through before he acted. Someone who could maneuver others into their positions without effort. And so, I tried to become that person, the untouchable man who always knew what to do."

I could relate to the sentiment. The world had been stuffing me into situation after situation literally ever since I could remember, and there was a definite line of defiance in his words. That no one should decide his fate but him.

But it was also extremely easy to see where our similarities fell apart.

"And ever since then he's been trying to prove that his version was the best," Ashley finished the explanation with a shake of her head. And suddenly I became aware that the aloof personalities of my friends weren't… real. I rubbed at my face as memories came to me in a rush, memories of all the time wear their expressions weren't as blank as before, they weren't the pieces of wood that they claimed to be. They were fragile underneath the masks, and clung to each other whether they knew it or not.

I am an idiot. How could I miss that?

* * *

 **[Harder Heads Prevail] activated; Charisma check passed!**

* * *

Ah, right. I'm an idiot, that's why.

"The drive's always been there," He responded to our leader, pulling me away from my thoughts in time to rejoin the conversation, "To prove that I was right. That others should try to act like I do because it was the best idea among a list of poor ones. But just when I thought I'd gotten over it…" Green eyes looked up at me, and I saw shame there before he scowled and looked away, "Someone shows up just to prove me wrong."

Was it wrong to say that I preferred when I _couldn't_ pass charisma checks? They seemed to mostly revolve around making me feel bad.

"He does that, yes," Ashley responded without mercy before turning to me with those vindictive eyes, her posture casual despite what was undoubtedly a sore subject for Roman, "Don't give me that look, I'm going to explain," At this I lightly pumped **[Project Bloodlust]** just to get the point across, but she only responded by smiling cruelly. Fucking Sadist. "This, right here, is the definite reason for most of the people in our classes not really getting along. Why Davis didn't like Cosma, why me and Emily don't get along, and why Shebul is the most passive hot mess of a person you've ever met."

"Because you all disagreed what the ideal huntsman was?" I could only stare in a detached kind of disbelief as she nodded, as though that were entirely normal.

...What the hell would I know about Normal? That was probably why this was blindsiding me.

"It was part of the Program before my Mother replaced the last Headmaster. He claimed that it was an integral part of becoming a Huntsman, to have an image that you would become when you were older," There was something in the way she spoke about it, that I couldn't place. She looked down her nose at me as she tried to stare me down impotently, as I was six inches taller than her.

I had no response for her unspoken challenge, because I didn't speak Subtle just as much as I couldn't read the Old Tongue.

"Most of the teachers for the Hunter Corps are products of the system, all except for Hazel, if he even counts as a teacher to begin with. They are all the end product of this system of teaching," She tilted her head to the side, her ponytail falling off of her shoulder as she tried to find something in my eyes, though what she'd find I had no idea. It's not like I knew what was going on inside my head half the time, she'd have better luck talking to Fenrir.

"Why'd they stop then?" I questioned instead, moving back to the conversation. I still had no idea why this was important, outside of pitting every single student against each other.

"It was tied to the Last Headmaster's Semblance, they called it **Exemplar**. In the short term, it made people better warriors, but in the long term it made people pursue this idealistic fantasy of whatever the person wants to become. You and Taylor are the only ones that haven't been exposed to it before," She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes, "So you'd have a hard time understanding what its like being under the effects. It's like a drug, makes you act in ways that don't make any sense to you, let alone those around you. It makes you think that what you're doing is right and anyone who says any differently is wrong. He claimed that this helped keep the mind clear and resist illusion type Semblances, but I have no idea what was true or not when it came to him. And the affects are basically permanent, the longer he used it on you the harder it is to resist them."

That… was nightmarish. I gave them both a good hard look, and didn't like what I found. They were shrinking lilies under my eyes, all shame and sadness. It was making my blood boil, but before I could go off just quite yet I received a notification from Fenrir.

* * *

 **[Wait, wait, wait. A Semblance… That lasts forever? That doesn't sound right to me, Boss.]**

* * *

Now that he mentioned it...

"Raul wanted to be deadly," Ashley said as she picked her head up to make eye contact with me once again, like she had heard me questioning her story in my head, "Now he can't even go on hunts with a team because he can't control himself properly. Mr. G refuses to go out on missions anymore because of this. He wanted to fight the Grimm. I don't think he could fight for his own life if someone charged him."

"That's why, when the board of directors found out, they set Raul on him and threw his body to the Grimm," Roman finished as finally stood with a rush of Aura, "And now, seven years later, People still can't shake it. The drive to be the best, to prove it, and to shame those that disagree with them. It's a curse that we'll have to live with. If I'm honest, the pull wasn't even that strong until last week. Maybe it was all the time away recently?"

Did he say… Last Week? A timeline to figure out, and possibly answers along with it.

Suddenly, I was no longer contemplating the effect of this bizarre Semblance and instead became laser focused on him, "So this ain't a constant thing, its got spikes of intensity?" Which literally shouldn't be possible, there is no such thing as spontaneous phenomena, the energy has to come from somewhere. Even Semblances couldn't break that law, Once the Aura was out that meant no more Semblance.

Roman nodded tiredly as I watched the energy drain from him, literally the glow of health leaving his face as the energy he had just spent sparring left his body, "It's the worst when you're sitting down or trying to go to sleep," When they were stationary and an easier target.

I didn't bother to hide my smile as I continued to question him, "So say, last Sunday at Dinner?" The first group Seizure I had been witness to.

Roman's eyes widened and Ashley shot me a look, and my smirk spilled across my face, which was just about all the confirmation that I needed, "Yes, when you scared me half to death by breaking our table in half. How could you know that?" Jackpot.

Looks like I had a good guess as to who the _**Sluagh**_ was.

"Rrrrrright," Ashley drawled as she stared at me in confusion, "Austin acting oddly aside, I think that we've wasted enough time here today. We need to get back before breakfast," She pulled out her Scroll and scoffed, "Or second period more like, could you two take any longer if you tried?!"

Roman and I made eye contact before simultaneously responding, "Yes."

I smiled with him as he laughed and she raged, before hissing in pain as her superheated fingers grabbed my ear and _twisted_ in her own take on her mother's technique. By the _brothers_ , did she hurt.

But I'd endure it, and pass on my findings to Marsha tonight. The Plan was simple; Fuck up the Ghost, save my friends, and wipe my hands of magic until I needed to deal with a fairy or something down the line.

...I wonder how the world would mess me up this time.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 _Alright, bizarro Magic Arc coming to a close and I can finally return to Adventuring as the Ultimate Goon and write up Cosma's Relationship Quest after that, which will encompass an entire arc. This is writing in the Backstory of the Vacuoan Academy for Gifted Youths, which was like a throwaway line in a separate Fanfiction that I've made my own. This Arc should be a pretty good explanation for its existence as well as a bit of its history._

 _Character development, yadayada._

 _The only review that I need to respond to here is the Guest who asked a bunch of questions about the nature of semblances, so I thought that I should explain in the next chapter when Austin speaks to Marsha in times of duress about the Ghost using his Semblance on the Students, which will also answer a bit on the nature of Magic and how Humans use it._

 _In a more specific question about something that won't come up, Austin converts "Energy" to matter, I'm assuming that what is being referenced is Osteogenesis. This comes back to Austin being a Half-Grimm and why Fenrir calls him "Boss" when they speak. The "Boss" Grimm is what holds together a Dungeon, or alternate space where quite a few Grimm were sealed back in the age of Magic._

 _This includes Fenrir._

 _When Fenrir was killed, he was killed in his Dungeon, and as such he recognizes the one who killed him as the Boss of his Dungeon, mostly in name. But what did come along with the kill was the seal placed on Fenrir to place him in his dungeon. This means that Austin, or anyone who is in The Game, has access to all of the bonuses of a Dungeon, such as storing Matter and Energy for when he needs to access it. This is how I have rationalized The Game breaking most of the laws of physics, by bringing that number of laws broken down to one through a bit of pocket dimension fuckery._

 _More will be explained in the story, eventually._

 _Alright, Thanks for reading, please review if you have something to say and all of that._

 _Jericho Out._


	35. Level 3: Part 5

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _As had been happening a lot in the last few days, I found myself at a loss. Gray-blue eyes looked at me expectantly, but I had no answers for her. And so I met the Old Hag's eyes with my own, simply waiting for her to explain or leave. Either one was viable at this point._

 _I only broke my focus long enough to dig the fork I had pocketed into the Hand that suddenly clamped onto my shoulder, staring down the Doctor that recoiled in Pain with the utensil sticking out of his hand. Honestly, I had thought him smarter than that. He had been pretty polite up until then._

" _I warned ya," The wrinkled old Witch gloated while shaking her head with a chuckle, "He doesn't like ya. He gets Jumpy."_

" _So do other children, but none of them have stabbed me before! Where in the World did he even get the Fork?!" He hissed as he removed the thing, and I scoffed at his lack of discipline._

 _It was a warning stab at worst, barely breaking skin._

" _Pup?" She spoke to me instead, already acting like she knew me more than the graying man, still trying to pretend that he was in his prime. Why she called me that, I knew not, but she seemed like the quickest way away form the smell of death that pervaded the Building that she called a 'Hospital.'_

 _The word tickled my head to think about, but I recognized it no more than my reflection._

" _They brought it with my Food," I bit out, ignoring the pain that flared as the scratchy sounds tore free of my throat. Which made sense, as the very little that I could remember involved being hungry, thirsty, and screaming until I was spitting blood. When she raised an eyebrow and the Doctor shot me a Dirty look I simply shrugged._

 _If they thought that I'd willingly return the only tool I had been given, they were wrong. That it ended up in the Doctor mattered very little._

" _Yes, well," The man moved towards me again, and in a flash the dull Knife was pointed in his direction. He stilled and raised his hands in a way that limited his means of violence, but I was far out-matched in every way. Caution was my only option. "Young man, I need to check you over. And if you don't cooperate I'll have to get nurses to hold you down."_

" _Boio," the Old lady leaning against the wall near the large window ordered without heat, but still managed to do more than my pitiful weapon had, "How about you step outside and let me talk him down?" With a Huff he shook his head and moved away, throwing over his shoulder that he was going to get a bandage for his hand._

 _And with that it was only me and this Lady._

 _It was pretty obvious from how she held herself that she was dangerous, not to mention that the Doctor left without so much as a complaint. And so I watched her, the knife still held in my hand, just as empty of a threat as any my Bedridden self could offer._

 _I ran my tongue along my jagged teeth as I tried once again to move my legs, but the stiff and scratchy casts refused to budge, which was probably for the best. My entire right arm was in a similar contraption and I had been awake when they had cut into it to staple and screw plates up and down the Bone. It had taken all of the control in my body not to scream out in pain the moment they made the first cut, but the Anaesthetics just_ ** _would not work_** _._

 _And after fifteen needles I had pretended to make them get on with the show without whipping out another needle._

 _What a painful experience that had been, and that pain was most of the reason why I was against another fucker in a lab coat getting anywhere near me_. _And the entire time, this Lady had been in my room insulting the Doctors and asking if she could drink or smoke in the building._

" _You should let him do his job, Pup," She mumbled as she stuffed a Cigarette into her mouth and yanking the Window Open. The bandages wrapped around her hands made lighting it a trial, but she managed after a minute of trying, coughing out a lung after her first drag._

 _I watched, waited for further explanation, and when she did not I decided that the matter was done. I didn't like this place or the people that were in it, and I'd be dead in a ditch before I let one of those incompetent buffoons get anywhere near me without paying the toll in blood._

 _I felt every mistake they made, so I'd be avoiding any more, thank you very much._

 _So instead I focused on the more important bit of information, "Why do you call me that?" I was no dog, nor was I her pet. The term of address made no sense to me._

 _She took a long drag as she looked out the window, but I wasn't exactly in a position to do anything else except for wait. It took a while but eventually she answered without turning to look at me, "Just feels right, Pup. Could call you your name, but that feels too… Formal."_

" _How do you know my name?" I questioned curiously. I only knew it because it was what they called me, not because it felt particularly correct. It had taken a bit of getting used to, but I was warming up to it._

 _There was a pause, and she looked at me with those Gray-blue eyes again, but this time they hurt my chest to see. Some part of me, definitely not the Voice that was growling in the back of my head, was in pain just from the sight alone. But the rest wasn't, and I met her stare head on._

" _You told me," She revealed simply, her voice breaking from the smoke of her cigarette as she turned to the Window once more, "Before you passed out. It was all I could get out of you." I could see the strain in her neck as she spoke, tendons sticking out just as much as the changes in her tone as she spoke._

" _You should stop Smoking," I remarked as I watched, which caused her to bark a sound that could have been charitably called laughter, "It makes your voice do weird things."_

 _She held the thing in her cloth wrapped hands, and stared at it for a long minute, "Yeah, I probably should."_

" _The nurses said that they were searching for my Family-" I spoke casually, before stopping when cracks appeared in the windowsill that her hand was resting on._

" _Don't get your hopes up, Whelp," She bit out at me with more intensity than I thought the situation really warranted._

" _Then what am I supposed to do?" I returned angrily, my left hand rising to knock the Handle of the knife on my arm cast, "Not exactly like I have much of a choice here."_

" _So impatient," She returned as she turned around, hopping lightly as she repositioned the Crutch tucked under her left armpit, "You act like you have somewhere to be."_

" _Anywhere but here," I returned, smacking at my throat when I felt something dislodge itself with a crack. Something that shouldn't make that sound, no doubt. I tested my arm once more and winced when I felt one of the screws work itself back out of my bone an eighth of a turn. Even now I could only growl and wince and cringe away from the pain of my Bones reforming under my skin._

 _The nurse that had called me out for lying about being in a coma said that Waiting was the worst part of recovery, but I have to say that the pain was just as bad. "When are they taking these things off?" I croaked aloud, much to the amusement of the old Hag by the window._

" _You can't be serious," She huffed around a laugh, "They put them on yesterday. They'll be on for another month,_ ** _at least_** _."_

 _I could only grunt in response._

 _Not if I had anything to say about it._

* * *

 _The kid was a confident little thing, that was for sure. No backing down, no fear in the face of unknowns. Stabbing her second in command with a fork. His legs had probably broke under the weight of his balls._

 _Destined for big things or a small grave with an attitude like that._

 _The Spirits that floated around his head seemed to agree. Will o'wisps of varying sizes, colors and strengths about a dozen or so packed into one room._

 _And she knew for certain that they weren't anyone that had died in the room, they had been following him ever they caught up with him outside that_ ** _damned wolf's_** _Den. She would have been able to guess what they were even if she hadn't been force fed his memories; Family. Recently dead, and fixated on their next-of-kin if she had to guess._

 _And unfortunately, she didn't. His memories didn't go into great detail, which was to be expected of a six year old, but she could make some educated guesses on which was which face in the memories. She turned away before she couldn't stop herself from trying once again. One of the many issues of being as old as she was and with as many memories as she had before you were fully immersed in the Supernatural side of the World._

 _She chanced another look over her shoulder, before squishing the cigarette in her hand when a spirit passed a little too close to the kid's nose and he sneezed in response. And without even realizing it, this kid was in for that exact world of hurt sometime in the future. What a turn of luck that he had ended up anywhere near her, probably one of the few remaining fonts of knowledge on the subject._

 _Craaaaack._

 _She was drawn from her thoughts as a sound tried to slide under the radar and she looked around the room for a possible source, before finally finding it the one place she wasn't exactly expecting to. She could only watch in amazement as a single long crack slowly traced its way down the side of his Arm cast and the bloody ends of surgical screws slowly wound their way out before falling flaccidly to impact on the white sheets of the hospital bed one at a time._

" ** _I can't take it anymore_** _," the little monster growled out as he began scratching the cast, "This itching is going to drive me_ ** _crazy_** _, feels like I got bugs crawling in my skin! It's almost as bad as the hunger." He glowered in her direction as he began feverishly chipping at it with his contraband knife before eventually sticking it under the lip of the thing to scratch at whatever itch he was feeling, and she distinctly remembered the kid being fed a trough of food less than an hour ago._

 _With a sigh she unwound the wrap on her right hand and hurriedly scooped up the bloody implements before anyone noticed. At least they'd be out of here sooner than she thought possible._

 _Shepherd opened the door with his equally bandaged hand, overkill in her opinion, and gave her a smile before it faltered as he took a sniff. His eyes narrowed at her and she couldn't help feeling like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, "I told you not to smoke in the Building."_

" _And I told ya to fuck off ya cunt!"_

* * *

 _End of Interlude_.

* * *

"How can you be sure?" Marsha's eyes blazed purple as she stared at me, suddenly willing to treat what I had been saying all along as an actual threat.

"I've been… _asking_ around," I countered with a toothy grin before greedily devouring the Hamburger I'd grabbed on my way out of the Cafeteria. I was in a good mood because I was still laughing with Fenrir about the past few days. I'd been trying my best to keep an eye on the people around me, see if my hunch about the Headmaster being the reason for the current predicament. But as I knew next to nothing about the rest of the student body, that meant that I was basically scaring them into answering my questions after some ghostly activity.

Thankfully the answers had been more consistent than I could have hoped for; When the Ghost popped up, they all felt the pull of **[Exemplar]**. That was as scientific of evidence I was in a position to find or provide, what with dealing with _Ghosts_.

"And everyone has a fire burnin' in their stomachs, with the same kinda strain as when the old fart was runnin' the show," I reiterated fully, barely catching the quick flash of some emotion before she looked back at me. If I could convince her that this was to be dealt with, then I could go back to my life and leave her to hers, "So whatever caused it then is back. That's about as simple as I could make this," I finished with a shrug.

I had a feeling that it wouldn't go that way.

"That's not good. Bad. Disastrous, even," She spoke as the clarity and focus drained out of her eyes and she let her head fall into her hands on top of the Countertop of the Library, muttering to herself with questions of what she had done to fall out of the Favor of the Older Brother.

Better not mention that was because of me, I guess.

"Why? I thought knowing who you were dealing with was step one for dealing with a Spirit," At least, that was from what little Fenrir had translated so far. Apparently it made appealing to whatever they were still around for easier than hell.

"Oh no, it definitely is," She agreed as she sulked into her palms, "But that only helps when you're dealing with someone _sane_. Headmaster Fulvus was anything but. His Deputy Headmaster turned him in, we had multiple people that were willing to testify to the bad effects of his Semblance, and yet he still refused to believe that he was causing anything other than good things in his Students. It took an entire team of Huntsmen to apprehend him, and even then there were injuries, not to mention that his Deputy Headmaster died before they even arrived. Then the Board of Directors bound his hands and feet before throwing him off a Bullhead somewhere out in the desert."

"I can see a few reasons just in your story of why he might be sticking around," And none of them seemed like something you could just smooth over with a sit down.

 **Fuuuck**.

"Not to mention the fact that my family told him the actual reason of the Temple that the Campus has been built around," She hissed as she massaged her temples, causing my eyes to whip towards her.

"Is that important? He's still a ghost, can't exactly lead a prayer," I paused for a second before amending the statement, "Easily, at least."

"It's important, and technically accessible for him if he finds some unfortunate soul that is weak enough in the head for him to possess fully," She placed a hand over her face and sighed, no doubt because the realization that I had been right on the urgency of the situation, "Which is going to be easier seeing as his Semblance is already driving the _entire population bonkers_."

"Yuuup," I agreed, Fenrir already having inferred about half of what she had said. Honestly, Ghosts weren't nearly as complicated as I had expected. They were named after the reason they came back, the more clear their color of their Will o'Wisp was the stronger they were, and they couldn't understand non-magical languages across the barrier of death. And as they were stuck in the last emotion they had dealt with when alive, you had to talk them off the ledge like a mental case until they agreed to leave of their own accord.

"The _Sluagh_ cannot be allowed to enter the Temple, under any circumstances," She declared imperiously as she turned around the begin shuffling through the things on a shelf behind her, "And a word to the wise, do not use their full name, It's about the only words that a Spirit can hear clearly. Clearer than any incantation or argument from a Speaker, that's for sure. He'd be on to you in a moment."

"The Temple… Wait, the fuckin' Administrative Building? The hell is so important there? Shouldn't we… evacuate or something? Better yet, you know any other "Speakers" that we could call in to help?" I could hear the quotation marks in my own words, making it obvious that I would take what the hell I could take at this point. Unfortunately for me, my Social studies/Magic Teacher froze up upon my words, sucking in a sharp intake of breath.

"You're looking at the Last active Speaker of the Frozen Sands," She replied acerbically as she began scribbling what looked to be the Old Tongue onto sheets of Paper in broad strokes of a black marker, "Last until I have a daughter, at least. Magic is a heavy burden to impress on anyone, let alone Family. Knowledge in how to deal with the most dangerous parts of our world inevitably leads to someone calling on you to do just that, not to mention that the things that go bump in the night want us gone more than any other. No Speaker lives past thirty-five unless they hide themselves away from the world like hermits," She grit her teeth as she stopped writing, long enough for me to see the purple of her Aura flash along the writing like some ethereal fire, "I'd call them cowards, if I could but track them down."

That sounded less than ideal, if I were being honest. Looks like I was more incorrect than I guessed when I said that she wouldn't be a target because of her Magic. If her family tomes were to be believed then there were more baddies that nobody else could see than a few dead cunts floating around the school.

Wait a second, **_I_** could see them too.

"How many fucking targets can I fit on my back?!" I whispered yelled as Fenrir began cackling in my ears. It seemed that the only sounds of his I could hear was his laughs or howls, as nothing else could compare to their volume. Whatever, not like having the world throw things at me was any easier than having monsters actively hunt me, so whatever.

"Southern Speakers worse than others, the elements being a part of the Living world means that there is little protection from Spirits for us," She clarified as her head ducked under the counter, "The Northern Speakers were by far the most long-lived of our ilk. Having a legion of things that can protect you across the Veil of death tends to be a good investment. Here we go," She stood back up with a grunt, and with a _wham_ a chest that looked as old as the school slammed onto the counter. I took a step back as the top flew out and crashed into my nose followed by a puff of dust that smelled of copper and iron long since rusted away. With wide eyes, I stared at the thing in bewilderment, wondering how in the world the hinges hadn't rusted away,.

"You still ain't explained why the Temple is so fuckin' important," I groused as I rubbed at my nose, not that it had hurt overly much but the dust had tickled me something fierce.

"No, I haven't, because I have no idea how you'll react," She spoke, and I was amazed at how forward she could be when the time called for it. Which begged the question; Why the hell wasn't she like this all the time?

I couldn't even fathom how much she could have taught Fenrir, and me by proxy, about the Old Tongue in the last three weeks.

"Fuckin' try me," I grit out, not quite able to keep the irritation from my voice. She shot me a look that I was unable to translate, before sighing and finally stopped moving.

She set her materials down in front of her and stared me down with an acceptable intensity, "To call this place a Temple is almost blasphemy as far as I'm concerned, but that's what it's been called for nearly a millennium. A building dedicated solely to flaunting the traditions of the Speakers of Old, of using the gift from the Older Brother to do the exact opposite to why he gave it to us to begin with," She shook her head as her hands balled up in a few sheets of unmarked paper, and I could almost smell the disgust radiating off of her as she spoke, "If you had been around to ask the Lady that taught me, this place was the exact reason that the Older Brother abandoned the Southern Speakers, removing his protection from them and letting the Dead and their kind have free reign on us."

Those were some apocalyptic terms, blaming a single building for the destruction of what I would classify as a race of people. And they were coming from the survivors, not even some conquering people that distorted the history books. That it was tearing her up just to even explain it told me more than her words. No matter what the reasoning was, she was mourning her people.

A good reason for me to shut the fuck up and listen instead of upsetting the living flamethrower.

"Before this place was built, we had been in a war with the Barbarians of the North for at least a hundred years," She spit out, not exactly at me, but not exactly letting me off the hook for the actions of people I knew nothing about, "And the Old Speakers realized that the Liches weren't dying properly. Some Magic that allowed them to possess the Undead that they commanded and continue fighting. Killing an entire horde meant nothing if they could leave a single drone hidden and then walk away in their body after the fight." She scowled at nothing as she said this, and I could imagine why. The situation she described was… less than favorable. I could easily see myself going to extreme measures to combat them, no doubt what happened to her People once upon a time.

"And then, in this time of great calamity, came a Speaker known as Servico Liath. He found the Old Speakers and told them exactly what they wanted to hear; He had a way to kill a Lich for good, that would stop them from coming back no matter what," A ray of light in the midst of a dark time.

How unfortunate that Light is blinding, and hides just as much as the Dark.

"Only after the Building was erected and finished, lined with rows upon rows of words and script from the Roof to the Foundations, did they realize their mistake. The Temple uses the Four Elements of the Southern Speakers to destroy the soul, total Annihilation. Some destructive phrase, repeated upon end in the stone of the building, and at the center?" She paused and wiped a tear out of her eye, and I didn't mention that she had been leaking them ever since the mention of the Speaker who had caused this, "A Chair. Where they brought captured Liches to be subjected to a fate worse than even the Liches themselves had brought upon those spirits that they had bound to them."

Annihilation of the Soul. What the Game had threatened me with if I failed the Quest. Not death, simple killing. Removal from the Cycle of death and Rebirth that even the Grimm follow. That's what I was staring down the barrel of?

 _Beautiful_.

"And if the Headmaster gets to it… You think he'll use it?" Because, let's be honest, even if I'd known the guy, People weren't my specialty.

"When he died, this entire school had turned against him. His students, that he had claimed to have brought to such heights, had called him a monster and left him out in the sands to die a slow death or fast death, it didn't matter to them as long as he died," She steepled her fingers together and gave me a hard look, "If that happened to you, how charitable would you be feeling?"

"Right," I answered choppily, grimacing as thoughts unbidden rose to the surface of similar situations, "But I thought it was a single chair? How much damage could he do?"

"The series of lenses that the Magic used to be focused through shattered more than two hundred years ago. The last time it activated it wiped out a square mile of life, along with it about half of the Southern Speakers that were on the _original_ campus," I winced as her voice turned strained and grave and she bit back what would have been a biting retort, "So, quite a bit of damage, in fact. Very dangerous. Not to mention that it happened because they were trying to dismantle the place, so literally anything could set it off. Now it stands as an eternal monument to the Folly of the Old Speakers, with too few left to even begin to understand how to deconstruct the thing if they tried."

"Damn," I spoke without thought, not even thinking of how bad that could be interpreted to be. Wasn't exactly the most reverent response for the story of the Death of a Race, not only dead, but erased from existence entirely. But for the life of me, I couldn't think of anything better.

"So yes," She continued on, her voice slowly losing the mournful qualities as she spoke and wrote, "I'd like his hands off of it if I could. He may just want to prove someone wrong, maybe he doesn't even remember it exists after fifteen years. But there is no reason for a repeat performance, no?" With a flourish she finished whatever she was creating, "Now, I'm going to go tell the Headmaster that we have an issue, and I'm going to slap those pieces of Paper onto every door in the Administration Building without making too much of a scene. I need you to leave this to me, when at all possible. Understood? If there is one thing I do not need to deal with, it is something as volatile as your Aura near a weapon of Mass Destruction."

"Can do," I bit out as every muscle in my body protested at the mere thought. But everyone had their jobs, and this wasn't mine. It was hers.

 _Not that it made accepting it any easier._

"Thank you," She quietly, with a scowl on her face as she looked away from me, "For not putting the issue down when I told you to. This could still go badly, but it will certainly go better thanks to you."

"Yes, well," Honest to the Gods gratitude, no matter how mealy mouthed it had been spoken. Sudden realization that I was beyond useless when it came to talking to people. "Y-your Welcome?" This was also when I realized that no one had ever thanked me for anything before. To be honest, I didn't like the feeling of those bubbles in my stomach, feeling like some mixture of sadness and happiness, like desperate hope. Hell, it was affecting me so bad I thought I saw spots of bright blue appear on the wall for a second there. Time to squash _that_ from ever happening again, _blegh_ , "I promise to never follow orders again, if that's what you wanted to hear."

She rolled her eyes before gathering her stuff, "Yes, yes. Run along now, I'm locking the Library behind me," And like that, I was scurrying towards the door. Anything to _not_ be locked in this nasty smelling building. As I pushed out the door I was assaulted by the piercing orange-red light of dusk, but also by the chirping of my scroll.

I sniffed at the air as the tang of some foreign smell floated past, tickling the back of my nose where the rust had lodged itself from before, as I pulled up the phone and answered it with a casual, "Jim' Whorehouse, You got the dough-?"

" **Now is** ** _not_** **the time for jokes!** " Came Taylor's Screech as the sound of an explosion sounded behind her. **[Instinct]** began to sweep the area as my Adrenaline spiked, all levity way leighed for another time as I zeroed in on her position. Should have been easy right? How many explosions could possibly be happening on Campus?

Around thirty seperate ones, as it turned out.

It was impossible to penetrate the layers of sound and instead cut **[Instinct]** off to focus on the call. "What the hell is happening?" I bit out into the receiver, finally remembering that my scroll was more than just something to yell through. I fumbled with the thing as the sounds falling out of it became distorted and muffled, managing to pull up the camera finally as Taylor zipped around at dizzying speeds.

I heard her say something that I couldn't make out before her scroll whipped up to display the sight of a figure that shambled towards her while another stood with its weapon pointed at her, its jaw hanging like she had gotten at least one good shot in. I watched as the frame of view dropped and spun as she dodged a tower of conflagration that tore from the end of its staff in a display of power that made the screen fuzz over, " **Not particularly sure myself, but** ** _goddamn_** **could we use the help**!" She yelled into the phone, and I was barely able to catch over the now thunderous sound of static overtaking our call.

"We…?" I asked as the implication hit home, " **Who's** ** _we_** **?** " The sounds of battle, the explosions and sporadic gunfire, they served very well to mask the most disturbing sound of all. Underneath it all was the low whispers, now louder and distinguishable as a voice, speaking the old tongue rapidly and without fault. The hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood up straight as the dusky air traced patterns of Goosebumps across my skin and the noise level of my surroundings began to drop like a stone.

As the image faded from the screen I watched as the familiar sight that I had seen many a time as Stone walls erupted from the ground, and the sand swallowed what I could see. And as the last bit of the connection winked out, the only information that I got was one word, "... ** _Everyone!_** " And then, with the pregnant silence that had fallen over the Campus, I was entirely unsurprised when a single notification popped in front of my face.

* * *

 ** _Dungeon Found; [Zinzanat Almawtaa]!_**

 ** _Warning; Entering Dangerous Area:_**

 ** _Recommended Level; 35._**

 ** _Enter? [Y/N]_**

* * *

 **Quest Updated; [** ** _Soul_** **Purpose]!**

 ** _I wonder what_** **Possessed** **_them to do that?_**

 **-Stop the Spirit that Possessed your friends!**

 **-Clear [** ** _Zinzanat Almawtaa_** **]!**

 **Bonus Objectives;**

 **-Uncover the Identity of the Offending Spirit before the end of the Month!**

 **-[Failed] Stop Headmaster Fulvus before he activates [?]!**

 **Rewards; 250 Relationship with [Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youths, 3000 Exp, 10 Free Points.**

 **Bonus Rewards; 1000 Exp.**

 **Failure; Annihilation of the Soul.**

* * *

 **Level Up 1!**

* * *

 **Perk Point 1!**

* * *

 **Choose a [Third Tier] Class!**

* * *

The influx of experience and useful notifications about Perks and Classes did very little to ease the dread that was pooling in my gut. With very little issue my ears swept across the area, making it very clear to me what I would find. Nothing moved. Even the breeze had settled in response to the lack of motion. Only the light humming of machinery in faraway buildings greeted my ears.

" _By the Brothers_ ," came the whispered curse from behind me, the only sound that broke the eerie and unnatural silence that had fallen over the Campus. I sent a queasy look over my shoulder, not entirely sure whether I had been expecting her to have left with the rest or not. But I was surprised that she looked just as green in the gills as I did, not even noticing when her ring of keys fell to the ground as her eyes darted around, "What in the world just happened?"

"Pretty sure everyone else on Campus just got sucked into a Dungeon," I said as I steeled myself in my Aura and tried to think as logically as possible. Before I did anything, I needed to go through my Notifications, allocate my Free Points, Perk points, and Choose my Next Class. There was no reason to jump into this without every advantage I could possibly gather.

"What do you mean _Dungeon_?" She asked incredulously as she finally found her feet and moved towards the rest of Campus, "The Magic in the air looks like death warmed over! I can't feel anyone at all!" She whirled around and stared at me, pretty obviously going into shock, "That shouldn't be possible. Even if- Even if they _died_ I should still be able to feel something-!"

"We weren't fast enough," I stated clearly and concisely, stopping her rambling properly before it got off the ground. It was also an odd thing that she knew nothing about Dungeons, but I guess I could figure that out after the rescue mission. It was starting to piss me off a tad bit that every question I had was delayed, but hey, what was I supposed to do?

Demand the world make sense? That sounded like something that _Marsha_ was about to do.

"He activated it," She realized numbly, swaying on her feet at the mere thought, "He really did it."

"Yes," I agreed solemnly, trying not to sound as irritated as I inevitably would. Urgency in an Emergency, please. "Yes, it seems that he did. The Bad news is that anyone on the entire Campus except for us, for some reason, no longer exists in this world," I shot her a look and was relieved to see that she was beginning to revitalize, which was probably an admirable rally in Human terms, but it was slower than I'd have liked, time to slap her awake with a direct question,"Any reason for that that you know of, by the way?"

"There's nothing special about the Library compared to the rest of campus," She said as she concentrated and wracked her brain for information, "Nothing but a few charms that I put up when I became a Librarian, but that shouldn't-"

"What do they do?" I questioned harshly as I pumped my Str, Res, and Con before Exiting out of the Notification and pulling up the one concerning my next **Perk**. According to Fenrir, Dungeons were centralized around Grimm and their origins, so if that were true-

"Some basic protections that stop Grimm from Spawning near the building, nothing that would stop a _literal death ray_." Yes, well, that wasn't what the Temple was, wouldn't she be happy to find out. Apparently, it sent people into a pocket dimension, which probably looked and apparently felt the same as the destruction of the soul for those that could feel that sort of thing. "But none of that explains why I can't feel _you_."

I turned towards her and gave her a look, before pulling up the notification about the Dungeon and exiting out of it. Immediately she flinched backwards and gave me a confused look and made to say something, but my hand shot out into the air towards the Campus to spawn the same notification once more. Her eyes went unfocused before she shook her head and shot me a glare, "Would you kindly stop! This day has been stressful enough, thank you very much!"

"Stop complaining, the only reason it's happening is because I can do something about this shit," I barked back at her, finally fed up with her. With a snarl I blocked out her oncoming rant about how hopeless the situation was, or how much she didn't understand. Oh yes, Boo-fuckin-Hoo. I'm busy.

* * *

 ** _Choose a Perk!_**

 **-Decimator Tree;**

 **Available Attributes:**

 **-Tough as Nails; 30 Str Required.**

 **Double the bonus of Juggernaut, increasing to .5% per point of Str.**

 **Never experience the woes of broken bones or strained Muscles.**

 **Add 10% of Str to Base Atk.**

 **Allows access to [Anger Incarnate] and [Break Upon My Skin].**

 **-A Fist Wizard; 25 Str and 15 Int Required.**

 **Any Physical Damage you deal has an extra 25% of the Damage dealt as non-elemental Magic Damage.**

 **Allows Physical Damage to affect Non-Corporeal Entities.**

 **Allows access to [Way of The Fist] and [Hungry Hands].**

 **Finesse Tree.**

 **-Bulwark Tree;**

 **\- Instant Regeneration; 60 Con and 25000 damage taken Required.**

 **Regenerate your Con score worth of Hp per Second.**

 **Ignore 5% of all Damage.**

 **\- Rampant Mutation; 50 Con and 37 Str Required.**

 **Constant regeneration has left you more fit to Fight.**

 **Add 25% of your Con to your Base Attack.**

 **For every 5 points of Con ignore 1 Physical Damage for purposes of Damage.**

 **\- Made of Health; 25 Con and 15 Wis Required.**

 **Increase your Hp and Stm by 50%.**

 **Allows access to [Made of Scars] and [Made from Marble].**

 **Acrobat Tree.**

 **Scholar Tree.**

 **Ponderer Tree.**

 **Rogue Tree.**

 **-Unyielding Tree;**

 **-[?] 100 Res, and Activation of [Enduring/Deadened] Perk Ten times required!**

 **?.**

 **-Forged In Fire; 50 Res and 37 Wis Required.**

 **Once per encounter activate this Attribute and for the next minute Become Immune to unconsciousness and Death. Removes Passive revival of [Deadened]**

 **-Brick Wall; 25 Res and 15 Con Required.**

 **Become immune to the [Knockback] Effect, but lose .5 mph Base Movement Speed.**

 **Resist 5% Physical Damage.**

 **Allows access to [Holy Aura] and [Gather Momentum].**

* * *

It is only now after this particular experience that I regret not having points in Int, specifically because the exact answer to my current predicament was staring me in the face, and I was unable to access it. **[Fist Wizard]** , and with it the ability to punch Ghosts. And with all of the Int I had lost from my Class over level ups I was looking at a good fifty stat points just to get near it.

 **Fuck me and my inability to balance myself**.

With that out of reach for the foreseeable future, I guess I'd go with not only more damage but more defense in the Form of **[Rampant Mutation]** , which turned my already ludicrous defensive capabilities into nigh unstoppable when it came to physical damage. This meant that someone would have to hit me for almost 600 Damage in one blow to even pierce my skin. That was enough to cover all but the strongest of the other Huntsmen in Training when they were using melee options. Not to mention the increase in my Physical Output. For a normal person, who was nowhere near my Stat composition, this Perk wouldn't be too disastrous.

But on me?

I clicked accept with a wary look, because despite all of the good that the Game promised me, there always seemed to be a price. And knowing my luck the world would find a way to use it against me, eventually. I could feel it in my bones. But until then, I'd take more survivability and damage please. With a start I choked as every vein in my body contracted, nearly sending me to the ground in a fit of convulsion, but I planted my feet and rode it out even as all of my sensory organs shut down due to lack of blood flow.

Thirty seconds later everything turned back on and I was now much more aware of the Flow of the energy in my body. Every bit of salt or sugar that was transferred in my blood, every spike in my nerves I could follow as it ran its course, and I could basically pinpoint the exact parts of my brain that was _stressed the fuck out_.

With a gurgling growl I stood back up and checked on Marsha, who was currently in the middle of some chant for who knows what reason, and I wasn't about to ask. I was in a rush, and if it were important, I'm _sure_ that she'd let me know. "Come on, come on," I muttered as I exited out of the screen and pulled up my Class selection.

* * *

 **Choose your Class!**

 ** _Choose wisely, this cannot be reversed without immense effort! All Stat changes based on levels in a class will be kept, but once you change classes you lose the stat changes on Level-up and replace them with your new class. Tier Three and Tier Four Classes are hard to come by, don't feel bad if you only have access to one or two! You can put off your decision until you have a class you want, but be warned that stat changes are not applied retroactively. And as always, the path forward is not always known! Most Tier Three Classes have hidden effects that you must discover for yourself! Good Luck!_**

 **[Tier Two] Class Options;**

 **-[Tier Three] Class Options;**

 **-For getting to Level 25; [Professional]!**

 **100% experience Gain.**

 **4 Wis and 4 Free points per Level.**

 **-For completing 15 Quests; [Adventurer]!**

 **4 Dex, 3 Agi, and 4 Cha per Level.**

 **50% Renown Rewards.**

 **-?**

 **-For Having Three Stats over 100; [Specializer]!**

 **6 [Str, 6 [Con] and 6 in [Res] per Level.**

 **\- 2 in all other Stats per level.**

 **-?**

 **-For Killing over a thousand enemies without assistance; [Outsider]!**

 **3 Str, 3 Con, 3 Res, 2 Dex, and 1 Wis per Level.**

 **\- 10 Cha per Level.**

 **\- When in a Party, Take a 50% decrease to Exp Gain and Renown Rewards.**

 **-Adds a 2% chance to critically fail a Charisma check, removing any possibility to pass the check despite all else. Includes versus Charisma Skills.**

 **-?**

 **-For Learning Magic before Level 25; [Astute Scholar]!**

 **4 Int and 4 Wis per Level.**

 **50% Ap Pool and Regeneration.**

 **\- 10% Casting Time.**

 **-?**

 **-For Not following the Rules (Changing Fate); [** _T_ ** _h_** **e** R ** _i_** **g** h _t C_ **ho** i ** _c_** **e]**

 **\- 100% Hp Pool and Regeneration.**

 **A Quick Death.**

* * *

With a growl I ignored just about all of the New Classes that had been offered for me, not even having the heart to laugh at the rather obvious attempt by whatever was the overarching presence in charge of The Game to stop me, and instead I felt the urge to just dive into **[Specialized]** and just throw all caution to the wind. I'd survived this far on the same idea, and I turned out _great!_

My finger hovered over the option and I could feel the pull strengthen, almost like a physical weight the pull was so great. Temptation meant something different for everyone, some it was the Drink, others it is Drugs, but for me? It was strength. And as I thought about all of the great things I could do with that amount of power, I realized that it had never been so clear.

There would be nothing that would be a true threat to my people.

"Austin?" Miss Mourie called from barely a few feet behind me, "What are we going to do?"

And like that, I snapped out of whatever trance I had been in. I sent her a grateful look, "Uh, yeah. In the middle of somethin', give me a minute and then we'll be on the way," That could've been an issue if I hadn't thought that shit through. I had just been complaining about my insistence to Min-Max so heavily when it came to the Miracle Perk. Ah well, Might as well start taking strides in the right direction on this issue. With a wheezing laugh, I clicked **[Outsider]** and confirmed my choice, not even really mad at the prospect. Even the largest downside of the Class wasn't anything new. I'd be at one Charisma for the rest of my life if I had anything to say about it.

And if I or Fenrir figured this shit out, I'd get rid of **[Direct Approach]** too. Survive by my own understanding or knowledge instead of arbitrary numbers in some system. I didn't like the random influxes of knowledge that came with it, because I hadn't been the source. Just felt… _icky_ to have some unnatural source of knowledge.

Like I was communing with a Demon.

Or a God.

I shook the inane thought from my head and closed out of my Notifications until only one remained, perfectly framed by Miss Mourie shouting into my face hysterically. Honestly, she needed to learn the difference between haste and impatience. Without hesitation, I grabbed her by the shoulder with my left hand and weathered her raving while my right hand confirmed our entrance into the Dungeon, knowing that any more time lost was too much. I had no idea what was happening in there, but I sure as hell wasn't figuring it out standing here.

And if I were honest, I was a tad past caring about the emotions of my Teacher, I'd care about the fallout of this after we'd figured this out. Priorities.

The moment the Screen fell away the ground rose to meet me, and not as though I had fallen on my face. Concrete slabs of the Sidewalk and the Sand of the Courtyard covering me in the span of a second. If I had been given more time I would have held my breath, but before I knew it, I was falling through the Ground. Dark and cold I could feel the sand tearing past my skin as I moved at speeds that shouldn't have been possible for me. And just when the crushing weight had pushed all of the Air from my lungs, when my eyes had begun to burn in their sockets and black spots danced in between splotches of false light-

I was pushed from the Earth in a shower of dirt and sand. I landed on my face, _hard_ and rode the momentum as best I could and touched my heels to the back of my head as every bone in my back _clacked_ together with the contortion. With a groan, my body returned to normal as my legs fell down with a _thump_. The dull sound echoed in the darkened area I found myself in as I turned over and pulled my face out of the sand, immediately activating **[Night Vision]** and **[Instinct]** as I tried to find where I was.

I stood slowly as I took in my surroundings, turning to look behind me and attempt to see some sort of end to the Corridor I had been spit out into. The thing was maybe ten feet wide with walls of smooth sandstone that sloped upwards into an arched ceiling. As I looked around and waited for _anything_ from **[Instinct]** I realized one relatively important thing.

"Marsha?" I called into the Corridor that seemed to absorb sound. I had pulled her in with me, she should have been somewhere near me.

I think.

This whole dungeon business was still an ongoing experiment as far as the rules went. For all I know I let go of her when I fell through the fucking floor and she ended up in an entirely different part of the Dungeon.

…

She was probably _fine_.

* * *

"I'm going to kill that little **shit** ," She breathed raggedly as she extricated herself from a pile of Books. How he had thrown her through the Door to her Library without her even reacting she had no idea, but he was going to be spending at _least_ five hours in detention cleaning the place up. She gave a disgusted huff at the unorganized pile of books that she must have knocked off of a Bookshelf before sulking once more.

And then she blinked slowly as she saw a weapon stand filled to the brim with rusted weapons, and for the life of her, she didn't remember putting that there, nor the Standing suits of armor slumped against the wall by the door. And then she realized that despite the piles of books and a very similar smell to the Library, there were no Bookshelves. Or tables. Not to mention the inch thick layer of dust on everything.

She was standing in a room floored with Books, books that looked to be as old as the Temple if the way that they fell away under her touch was any indication. While she was stunned by the change in surroundings, she felt the subtle tug on her Soul that was her Sense of Magic. She froze before hastily opening herself to the connection, anything to get rid of that awful _lack_ of stimuli.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she found more magic than she had ever seen, simply floating through the air, almost choking in its amount. Wild and without shape or purpose, the light blue substance simply moved out of her way, like it was waiting to be used. She could feel nothing but fear when she tried to fathom what kind of Spell would need so much.

But underneath all of that was something much more subtle, and much more important; The barest wisps of her Student's Auras. A smile stole across her face as she realized whatever Austin had done, he'd been right. She was still taking her pound of flesh when this was done, though.

Through her elation she heard whispers, a low and masculine voice that brought with it a cold breeze in the large Stone room that trailed down her arms and made it feel like she had swallowed a chunk of ice. She wasn't one of those Lucky Speakers who heard the call of magic wherever she went, she was just an average Mage in a not so average position. She could only see the faint trails that it left on the world, and she feared that any she taught would do much the same.

But even she knew the guttural sound of Necromancy when she heard it.

A pulse of light in the Magic in the air before two spirits glibly phased through the sandy brown wall on either side of the door.

And then slowly floated towards the ground.

"Oh, yes," She bit out acerbically as she continued to flounder her way to the door on the sliding and decayed books, "My own undead voyeurs. So intimidating." Honestly, with how Austin had been taught, she was beginning to doubt that Liches had ever been that widespread of a threat.

How often could necromancy reach levels of danger where someone like her was needed?

And then the Orbs fell through the helmets of the Suits of Armor. She paused in her scurrying as they began to Rattle and clank to life, the one on her left now only ten feet away and easy to watch as it turned its head away from the Door and towards her. She could only gasp as a single blue light flickered inside its left eye and its jaw fell open with a blood curdling Shriek.

...She blamed her turn of luck on invoking Austin's name. Maybe he got less than honest rumors somewhere along the way and the other students were just being children when they said he was bad luck was beside the point.

He was to blame for this situation, **And she'd make sure the little prat knew when she found him.**

* * *

 _End of Chapter_

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Outsider:**

 **Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])**

 **Lvl 25: 75/2500 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 62274/62274 HP Regen: 1453 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 2179/2179, Stm Regen: 322 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 10600/10600, Ap Regen: 265 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level; [782/1103]; Natural Stress Relief; 1 per Minute.**

 **(5 per even Lvl, 6 per odd Lvl)Str: (150) 161**

 **(2 per odd Lvl, 3 per even Lvl)Dex: 51**

 **(7 per Lvl)Con: (194) 208**

 **(0 per Lvl)Agi: 9**

 **(0 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-10 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(5 per Lvl)Res: 105**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 1082**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 43530**

 **Pistol Atk: 304**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 380 Damage.**

 **Mag; 21 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed 15% decrease in speed.** ** _Inherited from Nan_** **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; 2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. 100% to experience gain to the [** ** _Osteogenesis_** **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** ** _Inherited from Fenrir._**

 **[?]; ?. Immunity to [?]. Allows use of Magic** ** _._**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** ** _Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period._**

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** ** _you_** **don't respect You?** ** _Gained Through The Little Things._**

 **[Guardian Angel]; 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Fast Regenerator];** ** _When most people lose limbs it's permanent..._**

 **Regenerate a fourth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, half of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** **_I_** **Will** **_still fight._** **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** ** _Wade through Blows…_**

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach];** ** _Hard heads Prevail!_**

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

 **[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.550) to (Str*3.7550).**

 **[Destiny Breaker]**

 ** _The Chains that Bind will be severed, and I shall be the shearing force._**

 **-20 Luck.**

 **(100 - Luck)% chance to Break [Curses] and [Blessings] applied to you.**

 **[Marked; [Subjects of Prophecy]; All of those within the affected Group shall recognize you as [Chainbreaker, with the potential to be hostile.**

 **?**

 **-[Pack Animal]**

 ** _Familiarity is your comfort._**

 **(-50)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses below [Trusted (Level 3)].**

 **(100)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses above [Trusted (Level 3)].**

* * *

 _Alright, next chapter should be the Dungeon Crawl and ass-kicking with scenes from Students and teachers while Austin encounters the danger of facing a horde of undead head-on. Hopefully this chapter alongside the bread-crumbs I've been dropping ever since Chapter 2 (Jesus christ this shit has been a long time coming, in one form or another) has appropriately established the Big Baddie's intentions and his plan so as to not seem out of place when it is revealed._

 _On another note, If anyone happened to be "inspired" by my story I'd love to see any type of artwork, even if its roasting me over an open flame._

 _Music-_

 _This Level's Theme- "Magic Man" by Heart._

 _Onto the Guest who slammed me with the Wall of Text, know that it has been heard, and I shall be trying to answer as many questions of yours as we go. I've left quite a bit of evidence through out the story around the skill, in interludes and when using the Skill, as to exactly what it is capable of. For instance, just read about the_ ** _[Big Bad Wolf]_** _trait and Chapter 6 when he gets it for a refresher if you want a place to start._

 _As always, review if you have something to say._

 _Alright,_

 _Jericho Out._


	36. Level 3: Part 6

The Dark had never been a big issue for me, not like it seemed to be for others. Especially humans, who were without any form of Night-vision to begin with. Maybe it was because my nose and ears had been just as useful to me as my eyes, meaning that I had things to fall back on even before crafting the **[Night-Vision; Half-Grimm]** Skill to compensate, even before I had been in The Game.

A little rustle was all it took to find movement in the Dark, if you knew how to listen. Had to get your heart out of your ears first, which could be hard to do, but otherwise a simple process of not making noise and waiting for anything else to do it first. And I had experienced Silence before as well, all the way back on the Mount seven months ago, relative to me. A woman appeared and sucked the sound from the Air, stealing it and making it feel just as eerie and unnatural as it felt right now, walking slowly down this dry Corridor.

But faced with both Darkness that stole the light and air that stole the sound I made as I moved?

I was a little unnerved.

This feeling was not helped by the fact that the sounds that I could actually make out was the low whispers that I had come to associate with the Ghost, rattling off in the Old Tongue. I paused as I considered the voice and realized that the tinny and metallic sound was entirely different to the Whispers that had been following me around Campus, eating away at my patience for three weeks straight.

And these words were much more familiar to me.

Continuing my trudge, eyes aglow as I tried my best to stay aware of my surroundings as I tried to place the feeling of the Silence underneath the whispering and cast a thought into the back of my head.

* * *

 **[I've made some progress on Translation Boss, fire up the Subtitles and I should be able to piece together what they're saying. Just, uh, don't expect any miracles.]**

* * *

Fenrir, pulling through when I needed him to. Idly opening the **[Options]** Page with a thought and turning on the Effect, I was immediately greeted with… the Old tongue.

* * *

 **[** _ **Air adhart. Air adhart. Air adhart**_ … **]**

* * *

' _Fenrir, you furry fuck,_ ' I growled into my head as I continued walking, blocking out the fact that the Sand made no noise as I shifted through it. Instead I was treated to my **[Notes]** Page opening on its own and flipping randomly between pages, like Fenrir was doing it himself while I watched. And finally the page stilled long enough for me to see the Title of the Page, "Nonsensical Shit", before it closed and the Subtitles changed to Common.

* * *

 **[Forward. Forward. Forward…]**

* * *

"Directions?" I questioned aloud, easily relying on the only source of sound in this Brothers-Forsaken Dungeon. "Maybe Marsha trying to get in contact with me or something, who fucking knows. Not like I have a fucking **choice** or anything, the Hall is a Straight shot." I continued forward as the voice told me to, with very little choice in the matter with no other options available. I followed the Straight hallway for what felt like half an hour until I came to a sheer face of a wall and the end of my road. With a Grunt I stepped into it to slam a mailed fist into the wall as I tried to think of some way out that didn't require putting the structural integrity of the Hallway at jeopardy.

And then, with the suddenness of a sandstorm in the Frozen Sands, the constant whispering stopped, plunging me back into true silence.

Warily, I stopped with my left hand on the wall, looking back down the hall for some shift in my Gray-tinted vision before there was a sharp bark and another Subtitle appeared in my view.

* * *

 **[** _ **Fosgailte**_ **.]**

* * *

Underneath my hand the stone wall began to vibrate and I reactively jumped away as the stone I had just been leaning against fell into the sandy floor and disappeared from what my Skill allowed me to see. Instead, I was greeted by the much more defined image of a room with a light source, no matter how small it was, with a floor covered in what looked to be the crisscrossing roots of some tree. I did allow myself to sigh in relief as the Opened door brought with it noise, small pebbles clacking against the floor as they were shook loose to fall to the floor.

I stayed still as I waited for whatever nonsense was sure to come from the Room, and was greeted by the Magical red hue of a ghost as it floated through my **[Night-Vision]** , bypassing the Steely gray of my Aura, much like the Blue words had in the Nundu's Cave I noted with narrowed eyes as it floated into the floor.

I waited a second, not exactly sure what to expect, before the Roots, branches, or whatever they were rattled and shook in place before a select few moved towards the Spot that the Ghost had disappeared. All was still before a skeletal hand erupted from the floor with a _crackle_ and a rattle, gripping the floor as steel plates rattled across the floor and attached themselves to the limb as it emerged and pulled the rest of a skeleton from the Floor, becoming more and more armored as it appeared.

I could only watch in genuine confusion as it stood up tall, looking out at me with only one eye, not a biological one like I had but the Orb of the Spirit seemed to be housed in the Right eye of the thing. The Socket emanated wisps of red energy, and I could feel its attention resting right on me even as a helmet clopped and clanged over to it. A gauntleted hand swept down and scooped it up before placing it on its head while its other hand dove into the Bones before coming back up with a Greataxe that it hefted onto its armoured shoulder.

 **[?]**

 **[Level 35 Skeletal Warrior]**

The thing stood half a head over me in its crude and rusted plate armor crackling with its Red Aura. Half a dozen questions flew through my head as I wondered at the possibility of its existence before I just blamed Magic and refocused. My blood began to sing sweet melodies of death and destruction as the thing took a step forward and swung the Axe down towards my neck, but I caught the Swing with my right hand.

I couldn't stop the feral smile that tore itself across my face as I looked back at the uncowed Skeleton and realized that there would be no holding back.

Three weeks of waiting and irritation boiled to the surface as I crunched the metal blade in my right to get a better grip to pull as I drove my Left into the torso of my opponent. Another step and the metal shaft of the Axe snapped as I drove the back of the Axe head into the Helmet of the thing hard enough to split it in two. My right foot broke through the plate of metal that protected its knee before rebounding off of the Bone.

My left arm **[Blocked]** the desperate swing of it arm before I dumped a third of my Stamina into a **[Thundering Blow]** , feeling the elation of that Skill being used after such a long period of stagnation and demanded that Fenrir never let me set in a Library ever again as My heel crunched through the Knee and my right fist impacted the side of the Helmet so hard it crushed like an empty can.

My eyes followed the Red globe as it fled upwards, snarling wickedly as I realized that there was a hole that led out into the Night sky, and watched as it was replaced by a swirling hue of about a dozen Ghosts as they plunged into the Floor. As limbs began tearing out into the dank air I launched myself through the Hole, laughing as the Voice on the wind began to rapidly bark out commands at a speed that made Fenrir's translations useless, so I turned it off to get as much of my limited sight as I was able.

 **[Detect Bloodlust]** blared out a warning as a Blade came crashing in from behind me, digging into my neck about an inch before I spun around to grip the Skeletons Wrist and Slam my Left fist into and through the general Neck area of the thing with a sound not unlike a Mortar. As its body slumped to the Ground I saw an open door with another pile of Bones, spinning around to find a door open on each of the Walls even further, without a sign of stopping past that.

With a crouch I launched myself up the hole that the shaking and commotion of the Opening doors was extending and breaking out of the ceiling of the Room followed by sand that poured in like water, ignoring as the Skeletal hands that caught a hold of my clothes were ripped from their bodies as I passed into the Cold air of Outside. The dead air torn asunder as I passed through it, rocketing out of the funnel of Sand and sailing through the air as my eyes drew in the sea of sand underneath me, cloaked by a layer of dancing souls that floated through the air all around me, countless in number.

I landed in a roll, sand tossed into the still air as I stood once more, turning about as My minimap let me in on exactly what was going on.

The entire Campus was buried, with only the spires and roof of the Temple still standing above the suffocating layer of sand.

Not giving me even a moment to try to figure out what I needed to do the Voice returned in guttural and biting words, which caused the Souls milling about the air to drop towards the Sands. With a weary sigh as the field of colorful stars fell into the Gray sand I unfurled the chain wrapped around my hand and swung it in arc around me to prepare. When a wave of Spirits fell through me and into the sand, leaving only a tingling sensation as they passed.

Limbs and skulls began to pull themselves loose from their prisons, all of their right eyes alight with the glow of their Souls as equipment and weapons that had been buried for a literal millennia heeded their undead owners calls, finding dead and rotted hands to hold them once again.

And this Horde was standing between me and my Team, my friends.

I could not stop the growl that tore itself from me as I remembered exactly what was at stake here. I snarled as I looked around decided that this might take a while. Couldn't afford to pump every other strike with all of my health if that one skeleton managed to do damage with a simple swing of the sword.

I began to swing my chain above my head as I activated **[Overclocked]** , and was greeted by a Screen in response.

* * *

 **[Which Skill?]**

* * *

With a grin I selected Skills that I hadn't tried before, but the game accepted it easily and I felt the difference in how my Chain began to whip around faster, the movements of my wrist beginning to be easier with each swing even as I felt the taste of Blood in my mouth from the Cost of the Skill.

* * *

 **[Overclocked; Chain Mastery] Increased effectiveness by 70%.**

 **Hp Cost per sec = 170 Hp.**

 **Stm Cost per sec = 45 Stm.**

* * *

 **[Overclocked; Brawling] Increased effectiveness by 70%.**

 **Hp Cost per sec = 350 Hp.**

 **Stm per sec = 100 Stm.**

* * *

 **Base Attack = 3869 Damage.**

 **Hp Regen per sec = 1103 Hp.**

 **Stamina regen per sec = 222 Stm.**

* * *

And if I pumped every basic attack with the Stamina I recovered in a second, I wouldn't be down any resources to heal myself. And from the way that the now armed and armored skeletons were sprinting my way was any indication, I might be needing that.

Which meant...

* * *

 **(Thundering) Basic Attack = 32492 Damage.**

 **Hp Cost per Attack = 512 Damage.**

 **Hp Regen per sec = 941 Hp.**

* * *

The First Skeleton to catch my chain to the face erupted into a fountain of steel and marrow while the strike carried through and tore a gouge into the Sand with a detonation simply from the force of the blow that sent nearby skeletons staggering away. The force of it also tore small cuts up and down my Forearms, but they were just as quickly healed up.

" **Well come on, ya bastards!** " I called as the horde suddenly began to show some caution as I pulled the chain over my head, before leaping towards the nearest enemy who had come to rest barely ten feet away from me. The Chain scythed through it and its armor, the Soul that was piloting it rocketing away to join the other _freed_ spirits that danced about the sky. The creaking and rattling of age old bones stilled as they began to form up and ranged weapons began to appear at their feet, quivers filled to the brim with Arrows and Javelins appearing haft up as they began to circle around me, forming tighter ranks as Shields came up to provide them defense.

Like that would help them.

With a crouch I jumped towards one of the many forming armies of Skeletons and hit the Front shielder with **[Smackdown]** and then stepping into the swing of my chain to cut through the ranks barely noticing resistance as the undead were torn asunder by the tide that was my weapon.

The undead were my obstacle. The roadblock in my path to my friends.

The sky filled with arrows as they began to fire them with abandon, for what fear did a bag of bones have of being stabbed or pierced. Everyone knew they had to be **Smashed**. I ignored the first volley as it pierced my back and stuck to the Shields and plates of Armor of my enemies. This was familiar. Me surrounding by the pounding feet of boots, the rattling of Metal against metal as Weapons were hefted and wielded, and the unending violence that was demanded of me to get what I needed to do done.

I swung my weapon once more, relishing in the pain as rusted, chipped and barbed arrows were pushed from my skin from how quickly I was healing. The clash of the links of my weapon upon the armor and shields in front of me as a literal tidal wave of enemies pressed in around me swelled in my soul, my Aura beating in time with my heart as I found myself in my element. The taste of blood in my mouth made me feel alive, and the way my arms were tearing themselves apart even as the bones made of steel rang with each strike reminded me through the catharsis of the fight that I had things to kill.

For but a moment I cancelled **[Overclocked]** and activated **[Second Wind]** before Dumping _all_ of my Stamina into a single hit, my fist reducing the top half of the first enemy to dust upon contact while sending the lines bodily into each other. Immediately, I called upon **[Overclocked]** and swung my weapon around in a circle to clear up space, but with the same lack of abandon that I had they threw themselves towards as though craving the violence I had brought to their place of rest.

The others couldn't survive this, I realized as I continued to stomp through my enemies. And I knew for certain that there were more skeletons downstairs in the Pitch Black to tear them asunder. The entrance to the Temple was under the sands, and if the hallway was anything to go off of, all of the buildings were connected. Marsha could sort the cause of this issue out quickly enough, she was a magic wielding Huntsman after all, but I would not leave my friends to fight off a horde alone.

For all I knew they could be **dead already**. The mere thought alone made my Stress Level increase so much that I **heard** my Blood vessels constricting under my rocketing blood pressure. But the thought, no matter how macbare or maddening, was right. I had very little in terms of recourse other than throwing myself into the tunnels once again, but the thought of them making their way to the surface…

Only to find an entire Garrison of Undead, already in Formation, waiting for a target?

 **That would not be allowed**.

If I didn't know where my friends were and if I had no means to find them safely, I'd have to settle for **destroying those that would harm them**.

* * *

 **[Stress] Threshold Broken!**

* * *

 **[Wroth] Sin Activated!**

* * *

Bones in my hands hardened once more, the tendrils of pain that shot up my arms at the action ignored, and **[Panic!]** activated as energy began to build in the back of my throat. My very blood was now singing for this, to end them, to end the threat, and I was obligated to comply. With a **Roar** that sent sand flying away from me, that shook the shifting earth that I stood upon, **I welcomed the red that fell over my vision**.

* * *

"No signal," Raul stated as he checked his Scroll once again, much to her annoyance. Of course they had no signal, it seemed that they were on some plane of the Afterlife, with shambling corpses walking outside their enclosure.

She must have missed the Legend about the Younger brother being a walking _CCT Tower_.

"Any progress, Hazel?" She asked instead, quickly reigning in her temper before it made the situation any worse. Though, if she were being honest, Janette was hoping that people were looking to the Huntsmen in the life threatening situation and not the glorified secretary that was the Headmaster. But they were children, so she would do her best to not give them a reason to panic.

The Big Man shook his head, "No Ma'am. No way out so far," He turned to look at her from where he was standing with a hand on the barrier that stood between them and freedom, "But the good news is, that means that _they_ can't find a way in."

"Thank you for that, Hazel," She bit out through gritted teeth, not even chancing a look behind her at the mention of whatever unnatural things were walking by, "But _please_ keep looking for me," The big man bowed his head guiltily at her tone of voice. Here she was, stuck in what could have been an auditorium, possibly a Dinner Hall if the tables and stacks of chairs leaned up against the Wall were any indication, with two Huntsmen with much to be desired in bedside manners and the rest of the people who were in the Cafeteria when… whatever happened, happened.

Which meant she was basically alone, dealing with two gruff huntsmen and roughly… two hundred elementary school age children.

She felt a tug on her suit jacket and looked down to see a young boy standing there, no older than five, sporting a black eye and pitiful look on his face. "Mrs. Newman," He said quietly, "I need to use the bathroom."

She took in a deep breath and gripped the bridge of her nose, and realized just what kind of experience this day was going to be.

' **If I find out who did this I'm going to gut them like a fish** ,' She thought mercilessly before she began looking for a solution to the problem, immediately looking towards the dust covered and empty Storage Rooms that Hazel and Raul had searched for an exit. She was momentarily distracted as the distant sound of crumbling rock, explosions, and a roar that shook the walls of the Stone Hall and the Child standing by her side immediately clung to her leg, and pursed her lips grimly as her mind filled in the gaps. 'If I find who did this before Austin does,' She amended as she grabbed a chair and pulled out the pocket knife that Raul demanded she took everywhere with her to start cutting out a hole in the seat.

Some part of her mind told her to look up at the Front door right then, call it instinct or the Shenanigan-sense of anyone who dealt with children, but out of the corner of her eye she saw a Flash of yellow light zip past the barrier and disappear just as quickly as it came.

* * *

"So…" Roman asked as he wiped at his glasses with a handkerchief that he kept in his back pocket and watched the fuzzy image of his partner and the ball of energy rolling around in the sand like it was going out of style, "Do you plan on taking that away from him?"

"Are you kidding me?" Cosma returned as she began rubbing at the Pup's belly, "That's the first bone that's lasted longer than half an hour! At this rate, I might take a few home with me."

"It's lasting so long because its half-petrified," He returned as he leaned out of the doorway with his Scroll's flashlight on high beam, "He's chewing on a rock." His ear twitched as the air in the hall thrashed once more, but he couldn't tell if that was Austin or an enemy. The blast of air and dirt suggested Austin. He steadied himself as another shockwave rocked him on the spot, with Cosma squawking as she tipped over onto Tank, who was simply loving the place. Roman had been a bit… _Concerned_ when one moment the forge he had been using went out and between one blink and the next disappeared entirely.

Cosma had been more vocal.

The seemingly open door had turned out to be an invisible door, proven when a figure stumbled by in the dark, who had not even flinching when Cosma began pounding on the door and trying to shine their light into the Hall that seemed to just swallow light. Twenty two minutes later he fell backwards into the Hall as the wall he had been leaning on disappeared from behind him. He groaned as he stood back up, only to watch in disbelief as a skull erupted from the Ground, startling him and Cosma into simply watching in shock.

That was, before Tank grabbed and ripped the skull off before shaking it savagely it in his teeth like a toy as he ran around the room. Roman struck his face with the heel of his hand as the rest of a skeleton blinding slapped and clawed its way towards the surface, with bits of metal rolling towards it, beginning to form a suit of armor.

Cosma fumbled through her bag before tossing a grenade at the thing as it stumbled towards them, the Chestplate enclosing into the thing before it erupted into a pillar of flame and thrashed bone surrounded by smoking metal. As the thing slumped to the floor, he became aware of the sound of boots in sand, quickly turning off his light as a stream of the things passed by in the Hallway, some running and others walking, but all going in the same direction of the figure that had passed earlier.

And now here they were, him and Cosma sneaking through the maze of tunnels and rooms doing there best to find any way out, or anyone else that happened to be _teleported who the fuck knows where._ Honestly, he wasn't too concerned. The itch was back, and that was more concerning. Simply being in the Ruins caused it to spring up quicker than it ever had before, and he couldn't stop himself from thinking about the place in sterile terms like it was a test.

And despite what the voice in the back of his head was saying, it was most definitely _not_ a test.

The good news was that the explosions covered most of their tracks for them, what with the shifting of sand to cover footprints and the noise to cover footfalls. Which was good, when Cosma was treating this like they were simply taking the dog for a walk. It seemed that the itch was still going strong in her as well, though hers was much less self-destructive than his own drive.

" _Who's a good boy?_ " She cooed at the Monstrous Puppy caked in Dirt and powdered bone that had already gained fifty pounds in less than three weeks. Roman was of the opinion that its blood was replaced with steroids. As he met its happy brown eyes, he was just glad that it was on his side now, let alone when it finally stopped growing.

The air thrashed once more, and the rapid beating of feet on sand. He thought about pressing himself against the wall, but the speed and cadence was one that he recognized. He leaned out of the room to confirm it, and bolting down the Hall was a Ball of Yellow Aura, the only thing visible to his eyes.

Cosma smushed herself between him and the Doorway, also leaning only her head out into the Hallway while adjusting her hat to see better, "If I didn't know better, I'd say that looks like Taylor, but I'm gonna be nice and hope she's not stuck in here with the dead bitches like we are. And who knows, maybe the explosions _aren't_ Austin either. Maybe its just an excited Ursa or something." He glared at the top of her head, wishing for a moment that she could take this even slightly seriously, but relenting when the voice in his head said the same.

He had no proof, but he'd bet the small amount of money he'd stowed away that they were indeed Austin. Something about the way that things exploded, continued to do so for almost an hour, and drew almost every single enemy in ten square miles just spoke to him on this one.

And then he could only yell as the Massive Puppy knocked both of them sprawling into the Hallway as he jumped and slid on the sand turning his huge head around, despite the dark, and Barking once down the hall for good measure. "You just _had_ to say his name, didn't you?"

"Sorry," She apologized as she stood and faced down the hall,"Tank, he isn't here buddy, settle down," She explained to the dog, whose ears were standing up straight just like the fur on his back. He let out another loud bark as he spun around in place, obviously not believing her for a second. Roman stood and turned his light towards the Yellow blur that was now on them, covering his eyes as she deactivated her semblance and slid towards them in a wave of sand.

He lowered his arm from his face, plastering a disappointed frown on as he regarded her, even as Cosma spit out a glob of sand and Tank shook out his fur. She didn't even have the decency to look bad about covering all three of them in dirt, instead only huffing and puffing as she leaned her hands on her knees, eyes shining blue as they darted around the none too expansive confines of their prison.

Wait… Blue?

"Either of you seen…" She gave the dog a quick glance because _everyone_ knew the rule, "the Dumbass?" She asked feverishly, and Roman had an answer to his unasked question. She had indeed gained the same drive that the rest of the Students had, and it was her first time trying to scratch the itch. That would be _fun_ for her, and anyone that gets dragged along really. The others may not have had the time or attention to give to those around them, what with the itch coming back so strongly all around campus, but Roman was not blind. In fact, part of his drive was to be observant, so he was better equipped to watch and observe the others as they were pulled through the wringer.

Roman might be pulled towards being a Tactician who was cautious, but that was only because he had been without caution and patience when he was young and now wanted to make up for it. In the same way, Shebul closed himself off and now found himself being torn apart between his literal need for isolation and a want to grow closer to friends, which was perfectly reasonable. Cosma was never trusted to look after something, now she had a dog that she clung to.

The list went on.

"Follow the sounds of destruction," he bluntly told her as he wiped sand out of his hair, not even that annoyed. Mostly just… indifferent. It wouldn't stop him from trying to leave to be covered in dirt.

"That was the plan," She agreed in between breaths, and he watched as her ears twitched like antenna and told her more accurately where her target was than anything he would have told her, "It's worked before. Alright, Good luck!" And like that, she was off once more like the rocket her Semblance turned her into.

For a moment, there was only silence, Then a flabbergasted Cosma spoke up, "Did that bitch just leave us!"

"Yes, it seems she had. Now, come on let's try to get out of here," Roman demanded as he began to jog down the hall in the direction Taylor had come.

"Shouldn't we be.. I don't know, concerned about that?" Cosma asked as she picked up the pace to catch up with Tank happily panting as he chased them.

"If I'm honest," He bit out quickly as he continued to try and find any type of exit, "I'm trying to get us out of this tunnel before Austin collapses it. If she's smart, which she usually is, then she'll be out, too."

* * *

' _Where is he?_ ' she thought frantically as she took out another one of the armored fucks in her way. Where she was going? That wasn't a simple answer, but it basically came down to the Campus not being _that_ big for someone who could move at mach two and she was just speeding around the dank ass corridors looking for light. The spray and pray approach for search and rescue; run around until you find something.

But hey, she already found the rest of her class along the way. Can't argue with results.

She was now, after having torn through about twenty stinking masses of steel and bone, beginning to tire. She didn't exactly know _why_ she was running around in the dark like a maniac, but god _damn_ was her conscious acting up. Going on and on about doing the right thing like she was some kind of saint, and some other _less_ saintly thoughts as well.

' _Bad_ ,' She chided herself as she rounded a corner and sniffed at the air for even a small hint of where to go, ' _Bad Taylor, now is not the time. Now is the time for getting out a dank ass dungeon_.'

She'd save those thoughts for later.

But that didn't stop her feet from moving, so off she shot, looking for the guy who protected her when she needed him to. Because she needed time to smack some sense into herself. Her head moved side to side as she sped past door after door, judging images as best her mind could at the speed she moved at, finally coming to a halt as a familiar smell filled her nose.

Shit was on fire.

She covered her eyes as a sudden burst of light flooded her vision, her faunus night vision making her particularly bad when dealing with changes in light. Warmth licked at her feet as she blinked away the spots in her sight, gritting out angrily, "Dammit Ash!" She stood in the middle of a junction of two perpendicular hallways, and turned away from the one on her left as the heat and light lanced through her eyelids.

"Just be glad you didn't get burned," she returned as she made her way towards her, the rustling of plastic making Taylor's ears twitch in recognition. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Not a damn clue," She responded as she gave her the once over to check for injuries, quirking an eyebrow at her choice of attire, "What the hell is in the bag, and why are you in your pajamas?" Loose fitting clothes that fluttered in the slight breeze from what Taylor could see in the lowlight of the flame that Ashley held in the palm of her right hand.

"I decided to relax in my Dorm today," she explained dryly before shaking the bag in her direction, "And I wanted to make some food in the Dorm, so there I am, after having to listen to the Lunch Ladies bicker at each other for about fifteen minutes, walking to the dorm when all of the sudden I fall through the ground. Imagine my _shock_ when I have no reception, no idea where I am, and more importantly **No Weapon**. And before you ask, I am not taking my anger out on the suit of armor walking around," She sniffed and looked away from her, not even trying to act like her usual prim and proper self, "Because that would be childish."

"Right," Taylor agreed, just happy to see that she was alive more than anything else, "You know how to get out of here?" That she hadn't seen Austin went without mentioning. She wouldn't leave his side if given the option, enjoyed the feeling of power that came with having him around, if she had to guess.

But the point still stands that she needed to find her bestie, at least for the sake of her sanity if her conscious was to be trusted on the point.

"Yes," She answered with a nod, startling her out of her near decision to just blow past her and keep looking. "Down this hall," She pointed down the Hallway in the direction she had been moving, "I've been following the changes in temperature with my Semblance, and I think there is an exit down there-" She explained as she also stepped into the Corridor, but was shaken out of speaking when the entire structure began to shake and rumble around them. Before either one of them could respond, walls of solid rock slid up to block off their exits and the floor began to shift underneath their feet.

"Shit!" Taylor squawked as the Floor rolled a tilted under her, with Ashley echoing the sentiment as she threw her bag of food in the air. She leaned her back against the newly formed walls and watched as the floor began to shift and chunk itself until the shaking was too much for Ashley and she had to put her flame out to stabilize herself against the wall with both of her hands. Taylor scrambled as the rock under her feet fell away and flipped and turned until she was precariously perched on a small piece of rock that was quickly growing smaller. As the rocks she heard none of them hit a bottom and suddenly every panicked thought she'd ever had reared their ugly heads as she realized that there was a hole of indeterminable depth under her.

She cried out in alarm when the Rock under her ass fell a good three feet with a crack, nearly losing her control and blubbering like a child right then and there. How far would she fall when her seat gave out under her?

As the question came close to being answered the rumbling came to a close, and she was stuck on a platform of rock the size of a laptop, nearly hyperventilating. Give her Shebul anytime, at least with his semblance the heights weren't real. "A-ash!"

"Still here," She croaked in response before her hand ignited once more and illuminated the confines of the trap. Taylor absolutely refused to look down on principal and instead followed the sets of rock that jutted out of the wall, "We're both still here and we seem to be in luck. The heat is rising and circulating, which shouldn't happen if this were a closed system. The top of this thing must be open.

Up. They had to go up to get out. She pinched her eyes shut for a moment and counted to ten, moving as little as possible as she shot a glance downward, where the light from her cohort stopped after thirty feet. With a squeak she bunched herself up against the wall and spoke aloud, "I-I'll stay right here, thanks," She huffed in her anxiety as every instinct in her body made her want to twitch and panic.

"Taylor?" Ashley asked in confusion, obviously unaware of her struggle, "Something wrong? My step is holding up fine over here," She explained with a hop to prove it that gave Taylor heart palpitations.

"S-stop!" She frantically hissed as her fingernails scrabbled for purchase fruitlessly before her Aura came to full force and let them crunch into the stone of the wall like it was made of sand.

"Look," her compatriot explained as she pointed her lit hand towards the wall, "We have Stairs that lead up to, we're gonna be fine. But I'll tell you one thing, sitting there isn't going to help."

" _Like I don't know that,_ " She hissed once more as she slowly pulled herself up straight, as her hands dug into the wall to get a grip. She stood on shaky legs and looked over shoulder only to be met with receding light as Ashley climbed up the bizarre set of stairs. With a yelp Taylor did her best to follow, her knees tingling with adrenaline as she took her steps slowly and carefully.

And then, as she whispered to herself, Ashley cursed to herself and the light winked out of existence. Taylor, properly spooked and in the middle of taking a step hit the lip of the next platform with the tip of her boot and tripped.

The stone that she had dug into fell apart under her hands as she toppled into the darkness below her.

Some say that when faced with your biggest fears you see your life flash in front of your eyes, but all taylor saw was the dark overtaking her as she hurtled towards certain doom.

All thoughts quieted, even the damned annoying voice that she blamed on puberty, and were replaced by a mantra; _**I Don't want to Die**_ **.** The resounding thought echoed in her suddenly empty mind as she activated her Semblance in a panic, now watching her fall in slow motion, unable to do anything about it. She heard Ashley call out from above her, distorted and elongated in her ears, but all she could focus on was the fact that she was approaching the ground at speeds she only reached with her semblance.

As her mind began to blank a new thought emerged from the rubble of her mind, speaking in the same tone as the new voice; _**What would Austin do?**_

A simple question with a simple answer, one she knew all too well from the relatively brief amount of time dealing with him. If he were in danger he'd throw everything he had against the wall and see what stuck. Relentlessly thrash until Death overtook him. She took stock of what she had and found it lacking as her weapons were too short in reach to hit the wall. She still tried, watching as her fingers bounced off of the rock as she fell past.

Think, think, think, there was either a way out of here or she was **dead**. The thought terrified her, but not nearly as much as the Floor she could now make out in the yellow light of her Aura, jagged with rocks that had fallen away from the floor and ceiling and sure to make mincemeat of her, Aura or Not. It had pushed itself to the forefront, but what good could her Aura do now, there was no ground to run on.

Might as well try.

She pushed all of her Aura out of her hands and feet just like when she ran, the jets of Aura doing what they had always done; Propel her. Miraculously, she stopped moving as fast as the hold of gravity lessened and she watched miraculously as she stopped falling all together, mere inches away from the spiky death that had awaited her. A smile spread across her face before she started moving upwards and a look of confusion replaced it.

Almost like it was outside of her control she spun and flipped as she moved her limbs about, but she continued to speed upwards, towards the Top of the Staircase without a hint of slowing down. "By the brothers, this is difficult!" She yelled as she hurtled upwards as record speeds, passing a stunned Ashley as she followed her ascent with a gout of flame aimed at a skeleton at the top of the Stairs. With a crash she impacted with the top of the Tower, hearing cracks in both the stone and her spine as she slammed into it facefirst, but she simply dug her fingers into the sloped roof of whatever room she was in and tore her panicked aura from the grip of her Semblance, returning her to regular speed and the force of gravity all the same.

She hung from her fingers dug into rock that was already tearing away as she looked about, spying a break in the circular cap that she found herself in. With a yell she threw herself to the ledge and clambered up, breaking out into sobs as Ashley ascended the last of the Stairs and entered the same room she had just flew into. She planted a few quick kisses into the ledge that she was laying across, "So close, too close. Too fucking close. Don't leave me ever again, solid ground, I beg ya."

"A fat load of help you are," Ashley angrily called as she dodged the swing of another Skeleton before placing a hand on its chest. As it pulled its weapon back up to chop down onto her head a burst of fire exploded out from her palm and sent it careening to the same fate she had narrowly avoided. The black-haired girl huffed an irritated breath of air at her as she angrily moved her bagns behind her ear and out of her face, "You do remember that you have Aura, right? A fall from that height wouldn't even cause a sprain."

"Don't care," She replied hoarsely, now realising that she had been screaming at the top of her lungs the entire time, "Didn't die. I didn't die, oh thank the brothers, I didn't die," She feverishly laughed in euphoria as she hung from her new and improved perch, content that she wasn't facing that particular death. She glanced to her right, where Ashley was kneading the bridge of her nose and walking around the small ledge that surrounded the Twenty foot diameter hole in the bottom of the sphere.

With a sigh of relief she turned to look out the opening, before her eyes widened as she found a literal battlefield waiting for her. Another gust of wind swept across the sands, reflecting the unnatural blue light of the Moon and stars and brushed her hair off of her shoulders. An army of Steel marched, individual pieces of the whole spinning and whirling, throwing whatever weapon they had or could find at the figure that slammed through their Bulk.

"That's not great," Ashley said as she hoisted herself onto the makeshift windowsill and plopped down next to her, squinting down at the brutal melee with her all too human eyes. The great crashing sound that had been muffled by the sand and stone between the catacombs and their quarry now sounded in full force, so loud from even the five hundred feet away that they were that it threatened to blow out her Eardrums. The rending and tearing of metal under immense force and pressure, entire clouds of sand erupting into existence as blow after blow rained down on the mass of enemies, and various roars that sounded like the Grimm themselves sounded as they watched in amazement.

A whirling figure that was all too familiar spun and struck, causing so much mayhem that she could barely see him clearly, but the way that the red of his eyes blurred in the night air left little in the way of doubts as to his identity. Unless there was another Crazy man running around with Grimm-Red eyes that she didn't know about.

"Should we help him...?," Taylor asked noncommittally as several bodies flew away from the central mass of movement followed by a Blow that had both of them clinging on to their seat for dear life. Dust Explosions and weapons fell from the sky like some apocalyptic scenario, but that didn't stop him much. He didn't stop in his barrage to even register the attacks and instead laid once more into those that were surrounding him.

"I think he has it covered," Ashely responded through gritted teeth, "How about we focus on **surviving** him handling the situation?"

* * *

There was no describing the elation of a good battle. The singing in your veins, the burn of muscles, and the pain of new wounds. I was conscious enough to feel that, but not nearly enough to change the course of my swings, of my chain. When that got in the way, it was wrapped around knuckles for more control. My breath burst out of me in uncontrollable pants, but I cared not for the burning in my lungs. The beating of my heart, the empty numbness of my mind. Those are what I lived for.

Peace was nice and all, but eventually all returned to war. To violence.

To Home.

Words rang through my head, bolstering my mind, my soul as the ragged beast in my mind tried to push itself back into the foreground.

 **Blood.**

My fists would not cease their movements, nor did I want them to.

 **Metal.**

Those that I battered and broke did fell apart under my hands, bones steely and black where the skin gave way.

 **Blood.**

I ignored the weapons as they pierced my skin, all defense forgotten in my haze, and pushed forward, on to the next enemy.

 **Stone.**

All that was left was me and the one in front of me, and after they were gone it was the one behind them.

 **The Words, they call to me.**

Its one unblinking, unnatural eye met my own and I roared a bestial Roar into its helmet as I slammed my fists into the crown of its head.

 **They call to me alone.**

Reduce all Bone to Shards. Rend all metal into scrap. Smash the Stone into Gravel.

This was my _**Purpose**_.

* * *

 **Deadly Sin; [Wroth (Level 2)];** _ **You wouldn't like me when I'm Angry.**_

 **When overstressed, 90% chance that your body will attack the source of stress.**

 **10% chance to increase Str by 20 until stress level is down.**

* * *

The screen went unheeded as something burst through my head, a spear from behind perhaps. Ragged breaths and Angry thoughts made themselves known as the red fell over my vision once more. My weapon hand came back up, caked in blood red mud and sand, and I roared my defiance at the world.

It wanted to take what was mine. My fist ploughed through the helmet of a skeleton and I paid it no mind as it slumped to the ground in a pile of bones. It wanted to keep me here, away from my people. Then here I'd stay, until there was _**nothing left in my way**_.

Back in to the Horde I fell, accepting the sweet embrace of unconsciousness as I went.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Outsider]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])**

 **Lvl 25: 75/2500 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 62274/62274 HP Regen: 1453 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 2179/2179, Stm Regen: 322 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 10600/10600, Ap Regen: 265 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level; [259/1103]; Natural Stress Relief; 1.05 per Minute.**

 **(+5 per even Lvl, +6 per odd Lvl)Str: (150) 161**

 **(+2 per odd Lvl, +3 per even Lvl)Dex: 51**

 **(+7 per Lvl)Con: (194) 208**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 9**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-10 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+5 per Lvl)Res: 105**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 1338**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 53864**

 **Pistol Atk: 304**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 588 Damage.**

 **Mag; 21 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[?]; ?. Immunity to [?]. ?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** _ **you**_ **don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Fast Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate a fourth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, half of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach];** _ **Hard heads Prevail!**_

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

 **[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.5+50) to (Str*3.75+50).**

 **[Destiny Breaker]**

 _ **The Chains that Bind will be severed, and I shall be the shearing force.**_

 **-20 Luck.**

 **(100 - Luck)% chance to Break [Curses] and [Blessings] applied to you.**

 **[Marked; [Subjects of Prophecy]]; All of those within the affected Group shall recognize you as [Chainbreaker], with the potential to be hostile.**

 **?**

 **-[Pack Animal]**

 _ **Familiarity is your comfort.**_

 **(-50)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses below [Trusted (Level 3)].**

 **(+100)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses above [Trusted (Level 3)].**

 **-[Rampant Mutation];**

 _ **Constant Regeneration has left you more able to fight.**_

 **Add 25% of con to Base attack.**

 **For every 5 points of Con ignore 1 point of Physical damage.**

* * *

 _Ah Christmas, what a great way for the world to remind me that I am Broke and can't afford to buy presents._

 _Thanks world, I really needed that._

 _Anyways, Next chapter should be the Climax of the arc (Don't quote me on that, every time I give an estimation on time or length for this story I'm wrong)._

 _A good bit of people scrambling around in the dark and contextualizing the consequences of having an Austin around. Taylor facing her biggest fear, as hinted at in Chapter 6 and Chapter 13 with throw away comments. People facing their growing obsessions the longer they exist inside the Dungeon. Austin becoming the master of his wrath, slowly but surely. A bunch of other small things and world building put in the walls that'll be referenced later._

 _Thanks for reading, and as always leave a review if you have something to say._

 _Jericho Out._


	37. Level 3: Part 7

_Interlude A_

* * *

' _Fresh Blood_ ' thought the blood red orb that floated above the battlefield, the few other spirits that had retained their sentience through the years bobbing in the air as they spoke or laughed at the ridiculous way that the person was launched from the sand. When they landed, they found another source of amusement in the way the person was dressed. Was this what passed as clothing outside of their Tomb? Where were the furs and bands of steel?

When the young man's eyes looked skyward and locked onto the orbs, they heard the call. Yes in words, but they were felt in the soul, that was the call of a Lich. The call told them to fight, as it always did. Liath seemed a lot more concerned about this call though. The spirits broken by their time locked away fell into the sands to find what remained of their bodies to test the newcomer, to see if he would be the one to release them from the hold of the Lich.

But those who could still speak lagged behind, to watch and observe the young man in their sandy tomb. He could see the spirits, followed them as they fell to the floor with eyes that were not as concerned as might be otherwise expected of someone interacting with a horde. Either he didn't know what was about to happen…

A clattering of metal shattered the dead air as a roll of chain fell from one of his wrists.

Was that a weapon? Did people use chains as anything other than something to hold objects together now? How much have things changed during the years that had been spent separated from the world?

Only this interloper could show them.

The blood-red orb stayed still even as the rest fled to their bodies, resisting the call of his Master with all of his might. It would have been harder had he still been alive, with limbs that would have listened to the call before his mind could really stop them, but as a spirit he had a tad more control. His will versus that of his master was all it came down to, and while he still could not shake his yoke he could resist for a time. Being a speaker himself in life, he had some experience in the field.

And time was all he needed to assess the youngling that was in their midst. Would he fall to their numbers? Would he run from them entirely? Would he put up a good fight?

Curiosity was all he had left. It was the only emotion he could feel, his own little obsession in death. He existed as he was when he died, not fearing death in that chair, he was barely a spirit tied to some flesh at that point. He was simply wondering about what would happen when that beam of light hit him. Shortly after landing in their tomb, their new home for the foreseeable eternity, his Master forced him from his body for some purpose, colloquially known as "killing" him. For some cunning plan, he was sure.

It chewed at him, the fact that he didn't know. He **must** know. If he had blood it would be boiling at the thought of knowledge outside of his grasp.

The sound of an explosion drew him from his feverish thoughts.

Bones and Metal flew from the youngling, and immediately his concentration was broken. His Master's words took hold and he fell to his bones. One thing was for sure, the newcomer had brought answers to his questions.

He wondered if his _master_ was ready for them.

Damn him to the Brothers, he'd take his chances with the Newcomer.

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

So close. He was so close. How many eons, millennia had he waited for this day? How many men, women, children had been tricked, lied to for this to come to pass? Wars fought, buildings razed, and lives stolen as fuel for his fire.

Five hundred years was not long enough to erase the humor of his biggest lie, his ultimate accomplishment. " _A weapon to permanently kill a Lich_ ," his transparent ass. Even when he had been alive, _truly_ alive unlike his current state of in between, he had never pulled off such a lie. No ruler of the Northern Sands nor the Frozen Island even further north would have ever trusted the word of a Lich. No reason for them to keep their word to the living, no punishment could hold them to a promise.

But the South? With their single lifespans their memories were short. The name Servico Liath meant nothing to them. He was but another Speaker that had come with a plan, a plan to end a war.

And one Southern speaker under his control to sell his image was all it took to gain their trust. They carried the stone for his creation, carved the words that held it together, and he didn't even need to bring them into his Horde to do it. They _wanted_ to follow him, Servico Liath. The Lich of _Brundenburg_. The Traitor of _Kerny_. And so many more epithets that he could hardly remember after so long.

He had brought cities to their knees, rulers to their deathbeds, and his horde ever closer to his goal.

True Immortality. Not this in between that trapped him and his Horde.

Had it been a thousand years since the Younger Brother had come to him, speaking a tongue that burnt the frozen sand around them with its power? Two?

Did it matter if there was no one to prove him otherwise?

Either way, it had been the exact same amount of time since his first " _death_ ". The first Lich, with news of a new Magic to rival that of the Tyrants of the South. He had been offered a Body to use, and ever since that first admirable sacrifice he had always endeavored to treat those that gave themselves to him fairly. They were just as, if not more, important than those that fought for his will.

The young man with some illness of the humors? Cured. The Priest with a wish to meet his God? His soul was sent on ahead, with care. The Noble with a fixation on Gemstones? Mines a plenty. The Headmaster who wanted for nothing but Students that excelled? They thrived under his tutelage. The King with a Wife that wanted nothing more than a daughter? Thoroughly impregnated.

He felt a little dirty when he thought about that one.

But it was all in the name of a good cause. True immortality. That which the Younger Brother had promised was his to behold, as was his right as the first Lich. One day he would become unmarred by the touch of death and undeath alike, with the Voice of the World itself creating him a new body like his first to serve him for the rest of his days.

He may not have been the Most Powerful of Liches and Kings that the Younger Brother had Spoken to, Grimmnir of Atlas would have that right. A will like steel, that particular student. He may not have been the most benevolent of them either, that was for certain. No, of all the Liches he had had a hand in over the many years of his existence, he could only claim one thing; He was the Most patient.

And today was the day it all came together. He had fuel, he had his Temple, and he had Spirits and Huntsmen-in-Training under his Dominion, ready to be called on at any time.

As he ran his ghostly hands along the thrumming walls of the Temple, beating like a living heart underneath his ethereal palms from the amount of Aura ready to stolen from the lungs of the Living and Magic in the Air, gathered and sent through over half a millennia of waiting, he realized that he had done it. The Temple was powering up now that he had managed to come across the barrier himself, setback for an age by a door thoroughly covered in Southern Graffiti. But he had found a pair of hands without the hesitation of his last Host.

He had won.

All he had to do was distract the Animals outside.

* * *

 _End of Interludes_.

* * *

Fire was hard to control, all it did was eat and burn the world around it. It was heat, and in that simple way it could be deceptive. Fire burned and you had to watch it yes, but past that? It was fire. You gave it fuel, whether that be wood or Aura, and it burned. Electricity was similar. Aiming it was hard, you had to lace your target in Aura to act as a Target most of the time or it went to the most conductive thing nearby. Many scorched ovens spoke of Marsha's experience with that particular phenomenon. Ice was complex and required more than the others to properly use. Her Mentor had told her that if she wanted to master Ice she might as well just use Dust. It was easier that way.

Wind was the easiest of Elements, She had said. A push, A shove, and a cut. Easy to think, easy to envision, and easy to replicate. Wind was the Speaker's first friend, first weapon, and what most fell back on when pushed, while Fire was their last acquaintance, never to be trusted or given any distance without a careful eye.

But Marsha had found that it was the wind that was the hardest to master. Small changes made large impacts in the outcome, to the point of not even resembling how she had been taught to use it. If she had enough time she could steal the breath from an opponent and leave them to suffocate as though drowning on dry land. She could steal the vibrations from the air and silence an area to the outside world. And she could do much more than that. Years spent practicing with the most simple of Weapons, spoken of with disdain by her master.

 _Push back your enemy_ , the old hag had croaked as she hobbled around the patch of frozen solid sand with her walking stick, _And then hit them with something that'll actually hurt._

If only she had stayed alive long enough to see what she could do now.

She pushed her hand forward towards the Skeletons that shambled towards her in the dank hallway, two fingers extended almost like a Valean salute. With a twist of her wrist and a flux of Aura that flashed soundlessly the Skulls and helmets of both flattened into disks of bone and metal as though they had been hit with warhammers and muffled pops. Without a metaphorical cockpit the Spirits that had been hosting them floated flaccidly in place as their vehicles fell to the floor before slowly floating up through the roof.

She slammed her right palm into the chest plate of another as it charged at her from behind, watching dispassionately as it crumpled up like a soda can. The orb in it looked confused at the speed of its destruction as it continued forwards to float through her forehead with a tingling sensation. She wiped irritably at the spot as she turned around and made her way down the hall, carefully monitoring with her sixth sense the flow of magic as it made its way… _somewhere_.

She was making an assumption that it was moving towards the exit of the place or possibly the reason it existed. And she had a feeling that she was getting close, if the way that the Magic was nearly choking her with its intensity.

Also because she could actually _see_ the blue light coming from around a corner up ahead. The same pale blue of the _words_ on the various doors she had passed, all opened to the air but with script hanging in the air as proof of its existence. The writing was clear, eloquent, and efficient, so much so that she was sure that it was done by her Grandmother.

Like it had hopped off the pages of her Journal and hung itself in the air.

She walked briskly past a room as a spirit fruitlessly bounced off of the Words like they were a physical wall, and she supposed to a spirit it might as well have been. The Old tongue, in _all_ its forms, was the only true thing to affect a Spirit to the point that only something with Script chiseled into it and filled with Magic could affect them on the physical plane. It still required a Speaker to implement, so it was at best another form of magic.

Unfortunately it took longer to Chisel the Word for _smack_ onto a blade with an enchanting table than simply casting magic at them as well as having none of the limitations of range, so the practice of enchanting had fallen out of practice a long time ago.

Also the Southern speakers had mostly died out. That hadn't exactly help spread the practice.

But all of this just brought back one of the questions that had been bouncing around her skull ever since she had been roped into this; How had the Headmaster gotten into the Main chamber. Even the Spirit of a Speaker needed a body to interact with Enchanted objects. She huffed as she realized that some poor sap must have been possessed. She stuck her head around the corner when she arrived, finding the most intricate door as of yet, and what was worse was that she recognized the pattern that she had been charged with protecting by her Mentor.

A duty she had quite handily failed, even if she would be fixing it.

" _The hell is the temple door doing here?_ " She whispered to herself as she slid down the Hallway, throwing a wary eye over her shoulder to make sure no undead were going to take her unaware before returning her attention. She squinted her eyes as she approached, mentally debating whether or not she needed to go in, before relenting and placing her right hand where a doorknob would be on a mechanical door. She took in a deep breath before pushing her Aura through her hand and _Speaking_ as low as she could manage, " ** _Fosgailte_** ," wincing as the tell-tale reverberations of the Old tongue made too much noise for her liking.

Either way the Door slid up into the ceiling, and her eyes widened as the Antechamber of the Temple was revealed, only unlike the Temple that she was used to protecting, the entire place was lit up in the Pale blue light of enchantment, not a single inch of Stone unmarked as the tapestry of language in minuscule letters steadily spinning and flowing across the stone walls of the massive room. She braced herself against the Doorway and couldn't stop herself reveling in such a display of Magic, the likes of which she had never even thought possible.

Spires of Dust the size of Bullheads, with the Blue inlay drawing precise circles and patterns across the surfaces, stunning her in their beauty. The largest thing she had ever seen enchanted before was a cauldron, which was the lifetime achievement of the Old Hag who taught her. The amount of time and skill necessary to carve the entire room…? The Columns that spiraled up and down with Words, the ceiling that stood at least a hundred feet tall, and the Floor of the place that had multiple raised platforms all around the room?

She could barely fathom it.

" ** _Colbh an Teine!_** " Came a harsh bark from within the room, and she cursed her inattentiveness as she dove away from her position in a roll. She flooded her forearms with Aura and turned towards the explosion with them crossed in front of her face. A column of Fire erupted in the doorway, following the sloped ceiling upwards even as the force of the Spell sent her sliding backwards on one knee. She stood shakily, and called the wind to whip around her to disrupt any potential missiles heading for her as she looked around.

Her eyes narrowed when she spied a structure in the middle of the room, where she had expected the Seat of the contraption to be, a Rectangular stone construct set squarely into the floor, faces parallel to the walls of the room with Blue letters swirling every which way without a set sequence or reason as far as she could tell.

But more concerning were the Figures silhouetted in the Low-light of the Room, all human and not nearly as heavily armed or fortified as the undead she had been flattening. The only part of their bodies that were visible to her were the pieces of armor or armaments that reflected the blue lights.

And their bright blue eyes.

Along the wind came a whisper right by her ear, the same voice that had been whispering at the corners of her comprehension, " _Well, well, what do we have here? A little Southern Speaker, waltzing right into my den? Though, I suppose for one of you making it past your teenage years is an accomplishment._ "

With a glare she looked around the room, the slightly smoking hem of her robes bundled in her hand, "Why thank you, I aim to please," She bit out in a poor facsimile of politeness as her eyes darted around the room and she backed away from the Figures standing and brandishing weapons at her, "Any chance we can talk this out?"

An echoing laugh materialized in the air around her, " _Maybe if it was just me, I might have been open to it. But with my new… friends? I have expectations to fulfill now,_ " The voice lightly told her, obviously enjoying playing with its food, " _How about this; You convince them that they're wrong and_ ** _then_** _we can talk!_ "

An unsettling giggle emanated from the group of four figures as they stalked closer, but Marsha stood her ground as she began to prepare for a running fight, "Any chance that you can drop your hold on them?"

Immediately the laughs stopped, as did their advance as it was replaced with them fanning out to try and corner her. A familiar voice spoke from the figure on her left as it flipped a knife in the air, "He has no hold on us, Miss Mourie."

"Andrea?" She questioned as the other began to circle in, possibly because they thought she was a Dust Mage. Weren't they in for a _shock_ , "How would you even know if you're being controlled when most Mind control can't be detected by normal means? Trust me, you're under his control," The wind began to build in intensity behind her as she stared the girl down.

"Because we let him in," Came the unruly tones of the Girl's partner, nicknamed Vain for a reason, as he hefted his spear and stalked closer with the other pair of students, "He promised a way to make us immortal, and when a ghost shows you a buncha magical shit, you might as well dive in headfirst, amiright?"

"You most certainly are not, young man," She chided, and she realized the true issue of the hour; Dealing with them without killing them. Why couldn't they just be… janitors or at least people who had left puberty behind. It would make it much easier.

"Others may have forgotten," Came the voice of their Leader, who she would have liked to say was a surprise addition, but she couldn't find it in herself. If anyone would be enticed by the promise of immortality it would the Leader of Team NOVA, "But I never did. The power that was in the offer," She could see the smirk in his voice as he hefted his Weapon to his shoulder and aimed down the sights as his partner and the Spearman moved forward, "And what kind of Leader would I be if I didn't try to help my Team?"

"One that wasn't _Brainwashed_ ," She growled with a bit of heat even if she knew in the back of her mind that it didn't matter, they might as well have been sleepwalking for all that her words would do to convince them that they were wrong.

" _Alright kiddos,_ " The spirit chimed back in with a tinkling quality to his voice, obviously still enjoying the spectacle, " _I just need a few more minutes and then I'll have proof that this works, so Go Team! Wanna do a Group huddle for enthusiasm!_ "

"Do your Job, Servico," Davis retorted with a shake of his head, not caring about the way that Martha's eyes widened. Instead he took the distraction for what it was and unloaded a clip into her while his Partner dashed forward to engage the Teacher in the Melee. A wide swing came in from her left and she ducked out of the way as the weapon cleaved the space she had just occupied.

Her foot impacted the Girl's gut and all of the magic she had been silently storing behind her came crashing forward to throw all four of them back.

Scythes of wind tore into the ground, only to be rebuffed by the script that they encountered, but the bits of rock and dirt from a chamber left uninhabited and uncleaned for half a century whipped up into the air instead. The students immediately raised their Auras in response and covered their eyes as they scattered. Instead of a Follow-up she scanned the chamber to find some indication of the Wayward liches position.

Then a canister landed at her feet and exploded before she could cover her eyes. The smell of phosphorous was just about the only thing she could take in as the Flashbang blinded and deafened her, and she responded by bringing her Aura up and whispering in the old tongue to create a miniature vortex around her position. She opened up her Sixth sense and closed her eyes to focus on the individual strands of magic in the air.

With a sweep of her arm another scythe of wind tore towards her wayward students, grimacing when she heard one of them go down hard. She hardened herself to what needed to be done and began to chant lowly once more. " ** _Gaoth, freagair gairm do sheirbhiseach_** ," She finished with a flourish and another wave of force as she blinked the spots out of her eyes.

She pursed her lips as she swatted aside the spear that came shooting in for her Liver and rolled down the shaft of the weapon to put her palm on the Child's chest. "Faster than usual," She conceded as he growled at her and tried to grab her, but a spontaneous gale sent him careening backwards into a wall, "But not nearly fast enough. Did you think a little magical energy drink would help you beat a fully trained Huntress, no matter how young? Do the smart thing, and _back off_ ," She called into the disorienting room of pulsing blue light.

She lurched forward as a body fell onto her shoulder and she rolled with it into an improvised and clumsy somersault that led with her landing on her assailants neck. As the rogue gasped at having the wind knocked out of her, Marsha pried her arms from her neck and called on her Aura for strength.

With a step and an exclamation of exertion she slammed the knife-wielder into the swordswoman and blasted both of them back much in the same vein as Vain. She winced at the wordplay and created a shield of whirling wind in between her and Nilah before turning the shield into a weapon itself with a flick of her wrist and a few terse words, flying like a frisbee towards the boy as he dove out of the way.

"So you want to fight," She decided as her purple eyes roamed the ceiling and floors for some sign of her true target, "If its a fight you want, its a fight you'll get. Just don't come crying to me after I wipe the floor with you," Wind began to flow in unnatural directions as the students tried to climb to their feet, a vortex appearing under her feet and lifting her off the ground. She couldn't stop the Aura that began to pour off of her as she began chanting lowly and animalistically.

Interlopers. Trespassers. Defilers. Dirt that needed to be swept from her Charge. She had inherited the responsibility of defending this sacred place, sacred in the way that a battlefield was after a monstrous war. To so callously try to use the place for some ill intent, with the spirit of the Traitor who erected the thing to begin with, was nearly an act of war. The sound of said traitor still _Speaking_ to his horde in the background did nothing to calm her down.

Because she was the only standing soldier left to right this wrong.

 ** _Time to show them why the standing order in the olden days for a spotted Speaker was "Flee on sight."_**

* * *

Another burst of wind tousled her partner's hair and threatened to blow Cosma's hat form her head. The gust went unnoticed by Tank, _his cute widdle ears bouncing as he moved_ , as he continued to plod along ahead of them, his short fur not even shifting in place as he happily trotted towards the source. If pressed, or if the opportunity arose to shout it from the rooftops, she would say that she was proud of the Dog that she had raised.

Even her own teammates wouldn't claim ownership of his unprecedented rate of growth, barely being three months old according to Mr. G and already the size of a full grown dog. The only other person that the animal expressed interest in was someone that he seemed to want to bite when given the chance… She blinked away the random thoughts and squinted down the hall as the situation came back into focus, "I thought we were moving _away_ from Austin?" She questioned once the corridor had settled down, glaring hard at her trusted flunkee.

"We are," He responded resolutely, "That wasn't nearly strong enough, not to mention _loud enough_ -" The sound of cracking rock interrupted him and the two of them immediately pulled out their weapons in anticipation of a fight. Tank pressed himself low to the ground and began to growl under his breath. From further down the Hall a glowing red figure appeared from the darkness with a crash, followed by another figure glowing a dull green in the dark. A large fist Carved a trough in the wall as the larger figure tried to catch the smaller more agile fighter with a punch only to be forced back in a shower of sparks and aura as a handaxe was swung into their gut and forced distance between them.

"Is that Raul?" Cosma questioned even as the glowing green eyes of the Larger figure took notice of them and dove for its enemy.

" _Thank the Brothers_ , your eyes aren't blue! Get to Janette, she needs assistance!" Hazel bellowed as he struggled with the Security Officer of the School. With a roar he picked up his enemy and slammed him through a solid Stone wall to tumble out of view. Form the Hole in the wall the tell-tale Blood-red Aura of Raul emanated before a chain a trail of explosions trailed from the origin to the furthest reaches of his Aura.

" **Don't send the Kiddies away, Hazel** ," Raul cackled into the hallway as the three rushed by in the smoke, the sound grating and unnatural, " ** _Think of all the fun we could have!_** "

"I _am_ , Raul," He responded, obviously trying to clamp down on his anger at the situation, a massive strike that sent a shock-wave through the smoke that clogged the hallway, "But if its a good fight you want, then they'll just get in my way won't they!"

" **You drive a hard bargain** ** _big man!_** " The haunting voice trailed off as sounds of stone collapsing and explosions faded off into the distance as they crashed through walls or whatever else was in their way.

"It's getting worse," Roman spoke hurriedly as the ran through the place, quickly picking up on the sounds of violence and screaming children, "The crazy is gonna start coming out of _everybody_ if we don't calm them down."

"Getting worse..?" She asked incredulously as she thought about everything that was happening, " _It's already fuckin' bad, Roman!_ What's next, **paperwork**?!" A legitimate concern for her slightly panicked and mostly tired mind, already drained of Adrenaline after more than an hour of sprinting around full tilt.

He threw a harsh glare over his shoulder, his eyes flashing blue in the dark in contrast to the light the scroll threw off down the Hallway, letting his irritation show on his face for once, "Can't you feel the Itch messing with your head? It's unbearable just being here."

Well, that couldn't be right. She'd been to preoccupied with Tank to plan a single Prank. But he was obviously feeling under the weather, so she nodded along seriously to humor him. "R-Right, of course," She furrowed her brows to try and look serious and gave him a thumbs up, to which he groaned and put on a burst of speed.

"Just be ready to fight," He groused as he slid in the sand to a stop in front of an open door where the sounds were coming from. He caught her to stop her from sliding past him and she halted the gasp that was a normal reaction to three of their classmates stalking towards the Headmaster, who was herding a group of children away from them. She did little to be intimidating with an old metal chair the only line of defense. The children shied away and scurried as far away from them as they could, fear clearly written on their faces.

Tank had no such control over his stop and yelped loudly as he whirled and twirled across the floor. Cosma could feel the simultaneous winces from how close they stood. The sound drew the attention of the three assailants, who turned in Unison towards the pair and stared with wide toothy grins and glowing blue eyes that seemed to flow from their socket even as their Aura stood evident on their skin.

 _Greeeeeeeat,_ Demons or something.

Can't a girl have a casual walk in the catacombs with her boy-toy? Is that too much to ask?

"Oooh, you'll do nicely!" Emily called cheerily, in the most inviting tone she'd ever used when talking to Cosma, clapping her hands happily as her steps became jaunty. Her smile was the same perfected smile she wore when she was trying to get something to go her way, but there was a more genuine lilt to her lips. Seeing her relaxed was unsettling enough to put her on edge, but to see her so happy to see _her_ of all people?

She was white knuckling her weapon.

"What do you want?" Roman asked, diligently staying calm even as they continued to advance with carefree smiles. Good, one of them needed to keep it together, and she was about to start shooting.

"To get better," Shebul answered as his purple Aura began to build on his fists while the tell-tale purple mist began to fall down his back and billow towards them along the ground.

"And there is no better place to test how far you've gone than in the crucible of violence," Luca finished as a few arcs of electricity began to travel from his weapon to his shoulder, "And I can think of nobody better to try to fight without my Semblance than two tricksters."

A shiver worked its way down her spine despite her Aura shielding her from the elements, and it only got worse when the three much larger, and _experienced_ , combatants took steps toward them. In her panicked state her eyes began to dart around the room, which was unfortunately empty for her short term goals of hiding and fleeing, and instead found Janette ushering kids into the corners of the Room and shooing her towards the Door.

At least the Headmaster was on board with her plan, now just for her partner.

" _Do you have a plan for this?_ " She whispered as the pair pushed Tank back out into the hallway at the exact same pace that their aggressors advanced.

He shot her an intrigued glance from behind his Glasses, " _Do you honestly think that I can plan for a situation like this_?" he returned just as lowly as his Weapon expanded in his hand and she finished reloading her Shotgun with a _Clack_.

"Skeleton filled catacombs, no," She admitted with a wince as the three began running and flaring their Auras in anticipation, "But fighting Team TESL? Most definitely." She was mentally crossing her fingers as Tank began to Growl, as though he had just caught up on the situation.

Her little Buddy was very late to the party.

"Environment is important for planning, Cosma," He told her petulantly, obviously referencing some lecture of his and Ashley's on strategy, but forgive her for being a little scatterbrained at the moment.

"Yeah, Cosma!" Emily gleefully yelled as she lunged forwards with her Spear, " ** _Pay Attention!_** " The girl in question yelped as she broke right while Roman broke Left at the fork only to topple over her bulky Pup and get a mouthful of Sand. She could only watch as the blonde rocketed through the Air to crash into the Wall of the Corridor above her as she spit out grime. Moving much more smoothly than usual she swung around the shaft of her Weapon before landing in a crouch on the still vibrating haft. Cosma could only gulp and fiddle with some loose parts in her satchel as her friend joyfully smiled down at her from her new perch.

"I don't imagine me saying that I think you're awesome would help, would it?" She anxiously asked as she stood and hit the mechashift on her weapon, the slim single edge blade poking a hole in her satchel as it formed in shaky hands as she held it between her and her deranged opponent.

The other girl made a show of thinking by tapping her pointer finger against her chin as her partner took the crook of Roman's Staff to the Forearm before a snap-kick sent the weapon high and off balance for Luca's dust infused Mace. Eyes unnaturally bright, hair disheveled and falling down her shoulders and back, with clothes covered in dirt and sand. She needed no more proof that her friend was out of her mind than how unkempt she looked when she was otherwise obsessed with looking well kept.

"After having our asses handed to us by those annoying Mercenaries," She drawled as she too hit her mechashift button which caused the head of the spear to retract from the wall as she fell under the implement to catch her Machine gun, "I'm gonna need a bit more than encouraging words to let it go."

Cosma flared her Aura as bullets impacted on her chest and sent her sliding back in the sand with a sound of Metal clinking against a hard surface, and in response she whipped out the detonator from her pocket and pressed the button.

Emily gave her a snide smile as her Spear returned and she jogged forward, "Really Cosma, how naive do you think I am? You didn't have time to set charges-"

 _BOOM!_

Cosma rode the shock-wave of the explosion and turned feverishly to bowl over Shebul in a sloppy tackle that took both of them to the ground. Without hesitation she bashed him in the back of the head with the hilt of her Sword with a fury borne of fear and panic. Her target grit his teeth as his monstrous Aura reserves ate the Hits without too much effect before he spun over and threw her away with aura enhanced strength. She rolled into a crouch and spun with her blade out to clip Luca in his Knees as she passed.

He grunted at the attack and found her slamming the butt of her weapon into his Junk. His Aura took most of the attack as he had diverted his aura at the last moment, but he was unprepared for Roman's swing that caught him in the chin and sent him reeling nor Tank headbutting his Knees as he barreled towards his master with his tail between his legs from all the loud noises, which she assumed were happening underneath the piercing and shrill _beep_ that was all she could hear. Roman smiled and hit him in the solar plexus with the explosive end of his weapon, sending his smoking body hurtling down the Hallway to impact with Shebul.

A wave of sand followed Emily as she screeched in with another Aura fueled lunge, her hair also smoking as she continued to try and skewer the pair as Roman dragged her back and out of the way of the strikes, and she let him as she mechashifted once more before diving in and catching the shaft in between the two bayonets on the top and bottom of the single barrel of her gun. With an explosion of breath she pushed up against the weapon before Emily punched the shaft and the power of the strike left her reeling. Much stronger than in their usual spars, and so much faster.

Thank the Gods that she was trickier.

She pulled the trigger and was rewarded with the Spear flying out of her hands, and ducked left as she trusted her partner to follow her lead. She swatted at the warm wetness on dribbling down the back of her neck as he followed it up with a strike directly across her face, and the new burst of adrenaline let her watch in slow motion as she spun away and fell on her ass. Her eyes narrowed as her mouth began to move but no sound came up. She squinted at her in confusion before sparing a glance for her fingers to confirm what she thought.

Newly deafened from improper Aura Shielding in the face of a point blank explosion, she did the only thing she could.

She began laughing as all three slapped hands on their ears as she screamed at the top of her lungs and fumbled for her bag. Emily, not someone known to make the same mistake twice lunged for her and tore her bag from her hands while pushing Cosma away from her. Cosma went with the motion and fled even further back as she dropped all of the pins she had managed to pull in such a brief time.

Not nearly all of them of course, she'd only had a few seconds, but as the saying went; Almost only counts with horseshoes and Hand grenades. And she happened to be carrying over twenty of the things.

A sudden force and wave of heat, and she was scrambling to get away from the crazy people and flooding her ears with Aura to hopefully get her hearing back in the next hour. She sent a look over her shoulder to see her partner locked in a contest of strength with Luca, whose eyes were glowing even brighter blue than before, and in between her and her partner were Emily and Shebul, whose eyes glowed just as brightly in the semi-smoky air.

If that were any indication, this was not a fight that would be getting easier over time, especially if the way that breathing was already getting hard for her. She quickly took stock as she rounded a corner, coming up with about five shots in Big Bertha and two smoke bombs. Movement in the corner of her eye made her stumble, but she caught herself and kept running, silently adding Tank to her list of equipment as she was running through doors that had other portals visible to try and buy time in the labyrinth of rooms that her and Roman had traveled through, but now with two tagalongs.

A Shotgun with only a few Red Dust rounds, two smoke bombs, and a Dog. Not to mention that she was deaf.

She winced as the dog in question ran into a closed door and bounced off of it in what she was sure was a loud as hell display.

...She'd make it work.

* * *

The scent of blood was what stood out to me as I came back to my senses, clogging my nose with its coppery smell with a hint of rust. I tried to blink my eyes back into operation, but the red receded at the same rate despite my efforts. I watched grimly as a scene unfolded in front of my eyes, swaying back and forth as my body continued walking. I growled in irritation as flashes of pain began to stab through my body, too numerous and extensive to properly find the causes for. **[Instinct]** and **[Detect Bloodlust]** were running wild, like I was a Computer that had just rebooted and I had yet to find my equilibrium. And much like a Computer I had a few screens floating in front of my face that I ignored of diagnostics.

Sound came in waves, first only the sound of wind and sloshing ice and then voices that were speaking lowly and smoothly. Like they were trying to sooth a rabid animal. I ignored them and clawed at my forehead, finding something embedded in my skull and putting pressure on my fried brain. Without thought I gripped it and **tore** it off, ignoring the immense pressure of my own strength in favor of watching my HUD to make sure my Hp didn't fall too heavily. With a sickening squelch the bone popped off of my head, along with a third of my forehead and my orbital socket.

I heard the voices recoil in shock as I activated **[Osteogenesis]** and replaced the piece of Blackened bone and flesh I held in my left hand as the red immediately fell away from my eyes and all my senses snapped back into focus.

* * *

 **[Hp; 28094/62274]**

* * *

I wonder how much of that was me and how much was enemies?

I stared at the piece of bone and blood in my hand, appearing as though it had pierced my skin to form on top of my skin. It looked like half a pair of glasses, A single pure red marble of an eye staring back at me as it slowly dissolved into tiny particles and rose into the air like smoke. With a grunt I crushed it in my hand and let the pieces fall to the ground with a series of wet plops.

As I actually looked around, I realized that the ground had turned from sand into a sort of mud, made of sand and blood. The sloshing sounds I had been hearing were arrows being forced from my body by my regeneration and falling to the mud at my feet. "Must a done a number on me." I grit my teeth as one particularly large object scraped against my ribs as it tore its way free.

"Austin? You alright there, _Buddy_?" I grimaced at the patronizing tone of voice as I turned towards the source, finding a scared looking Taylor standing twenty feet away, looking remarkably free of blood. Must have been outside the splash zone during the main event.

"Who the fuck are you callin' " _Buddy"_ , Girlie?" I growled at her as I tore a javelin from the back of my right bicep and tossed it aside. Immediately I saw the tension in her form go down at the retort, only to return when I regrew the bones of my right forearm until my skeletal hand poked out from the sleeve of my Jacket. **[Second Wind]** followed quickly and the flesh followed the bone, and like that I was whole again.

Still dirty as hell, though.

"The Asshole tryin' to cave in the entire place, that's who!" She barked back, before waving at the other person that was on my Mini-map. "Teach me to be concerned about ya, Not even an ounce of gratitude in you, is there?" I felt the left corner of my lips quirk into a grin when I saw that Ashley was trying and failing to imprint the same presence that she usually did in her Pajamas.

"Course not, I had it handled," I returned easily, as the broken spear that sticking out of my back finally fell out alongside a veritable quiver of arrows on the ground. I did a double take as I realized that it _was_ a quiver, next to a shattered Halberd, and a pile of armor. I took a step around and blinked as a piece of metal bent under my weight, and on closer inspection I noticed that some of the dark patches weren't quite blood-mud, the rusted metal just blended to well in the moonlight to stand out.

"Yeah, did you ever," She snorted as Ashley made her way over, burning away blood in her way rather than simply walking through it, the priss. Taylor moved her head to the side and shook her head before her hand shot up and tore an arrow out of the back of my neck that I had missed, "We watched ya tear apart an army of the things. They shot you full of so many arrows that you looked like a porcupine at one point, but you just kept trucking. What did they do to piss you off, interrupt you while you were eating?"

I raised an eyebrow at her trying to act casual and looked over at Ashley, who was equally as affected by whatever had a hold of them. Not the ghosts, even worse than that. Emotion. The absolute worst. Especially when both tried to hide it, all jokes, smiles, and boredom from the two.

Too bad I could hear both of their heartbeats. Honestly, if anyone else could hear it I'd point it out to them, but until then I'd keep it as my little secret way to keep an eye on them and all my other friends, who all decided that hiding their emotions was the way to go.

Except Shebul, the lazy fucker.

"… Something like that," I answered as I scratched the back of my head and pointedly looked away from them, not exactly knowing how to broach the real reason. That I had got worried that, theoretically, metaphorically, they could one day be an issue for you guys.

 **And that made me angry**.

I clamped down on the growl that tried to slip out at the thought. No need to dwell on it, not like it was unhealthy or anything.

"So, uh, not to be nosy or anything…" Taylor started as Ashley finally pranced her happy ass over to us, "But have you figured out how to get out of this place? I've kind of been panicking for the past hour and a half."

"And I would like to take a shower, if it matters," Ashley interjected glibly, looking me over with an arched eyebrow. I wondered if she was bothered at all by the situation or just my appearance. Probably not my most presentable, covered in blood and grime.

The **[Notes]** section immediately appeared in front of my page, but I closed out of the assist from Fenrir without even looking at it. This was the one constant of the Dungeon, and the one thing that made them so easy for me to understand. "There is only one thing that keeps these things open," I explained as I wrapped my chain up and around my fist as I looked around for the Temple, as I'm sure that's where my objective would be. **[Instinct]** properly aimed painted the picture of the Tunnels, with much less immediate sound than in between armies of walking armories, clearly, and I nodded grimly at what I found, "Some fucker whose head I gotta beat in. Ash, question."

"Would you like… an Audience?" She hazarded, not really willing to offer to help anyone. But hey, if she came to watch and ended up helping that didn't count. I sent her an unimpressed look, and she had the decency to look shameful, "Don't judge me. I'm pretty sure I have a concussion. Normally you wouldn't even notice my verbal wizardry."

"Should I be concerned that Roman is fighting Luca?" I asked instead as I began to pull up screens and see what had changed. The first few screens were telling me I had lost a few limbs in the fight, but the last two were an item description and a note from Fenrir, which I read with great interest.

* * *

 **[Probably should have fielded this with you when it came up, but you were busy so I let it slide. That whole [Deadly Sin] thing is [Half-Grimm] uniquely, Grimm certainly don't have it. The more you use it, the Higher the Level, much like a [Skill] in that regard. Except Apathy, which is a Static Buff/Debuff. The more you give in to it, the more beneficial it gets. The rub is the lower levels, which generally involve losing control, could easily get someone killed. Can't exactly see the higher levels, but there are only ten blank lines here, so eleven levels per Sin I'd say.**

 **Oh, another thing, when you Access it, you have a particular… Item formed and Equipped as long as you are accessing the Power of your sin, intentional or not. That's this Mask. It gets hit, gets broken in Combat You immediately lose access to your sin. That means immunity to Stress level, but no Berserk mode for you. Also, if someone sees you form a Grimm Mask and go on a rampage, there may be questions.**

 **Good Luck, Boss.]**

* * *

 **[Mask of Wrath]** ; **_An item formed by The Game in Response to your [Half-Grimm] Status and Use of the [Wrath] Deadly Sin._**

 _Relentlessly forward, let nothing stop ye'._

 **-Equipped when [Stress Threshold] is met.**

 **-Equip to force [Wroth] Status.**

* * *

I found the On/Off switch to anger.

Beautiful.

"Luca and Roman are fightin'?" Taylor broke my concentration as she scratched the hair near her right ear as she squinted at me in confusion, "The fuck did I miss?" I simply shrugged in response, not entirely sure myself. I'd been out of it, as if she somehow missed it.

Ashley only smiled benignly at my question, "I'm not that concerned, if that means anything to you."

"Well I am," Taylor responded acerbically, crossing her arms and looking mulish, "I don't want Roman getting hurt, and I'd think you'd be more concerned about this, Mr. Ferocious Loyalty!" She finished with a glare.

"If you could hear what I could you wouldn't be concerned for Roman," I explained as easily as I could. But there was a bigger issue that **[Instinct]** was alerting me to, and that was that all the people were beginning to smell eerily similar to the Skeletons and Dungeon itself, like the place was seeping into them. Overpowering their smells.

Just the same as had been happening all over the fucking campus.

The place was possessing them just like the Ghost was. I smacked a hand onto my face and dragged it down as I closed out of the screen and focused on actively trying to fix the problem. And not in the abstract, think like a ghost kinda way that Miss Mourie was trying to drill into my head.

I needed a much more hands on approach, and I had all the tools I needed at my disposal.

' _Fenrir, what does the Game have about Possession?'_ Immediately my **[Notes]** Page opened again and I sighed as the words began to flow, taking the time to tell them that I needed a minute to figure something out. They gave each other uneasy looks and me not-so confident ones, but Taylor agreed to search through the area to look for cool shit while Ashley began to meditate to rebuild her Aura reserves.

No idea if that worked, by the way. She said it did, but my Scroll never really gave any indication that her Aura was coming back. But if it got me time then I'd take it.

* * *

 **[Possession; A general Term for Debuffs applied by [Undead;Ethereal] Enemies, but Most often applies to those with the [Deadened] Status of the [?] Skill. As this skill requires a Check of Res vs Res to be applied and Maintained, the easiest way to remove it is to cast the [?] Skill on someone already under its effects and win the Check versus the original Caster. Alternatively, a subject could be killed and then raised improperly as those with the [Warped Soul] Status are immune.]**

* * *

Words and other words. Word salad. I growled at the useless screen, wishing I could snatch it from the air and impart exactly what I thought of its _help_. Instead I refocused and pushed on, ' _What about this Warped Soul thing, anything on that?'_

* * *

 **[Warped Soul; Two methods to obtain this Status 1) Revive a Soul without using the [?] Skill or 2) Death on Land Tainted by the Brothers causes immediate Revival with this Status.]**

* * *

Great, both involved dying. Not an option to kill my best friend and my Partner for a solution to a temporary problem. So I needed to go to the source, and the description listed an unknown Skill that I could use to break the Possession if I won a battle of Res. I'd take my chances. ' _Brother, do you have_ ** _anything_** _on that Question mark?'_ I was surprised when after a moment the page flipped to an annoyingly empty page.

* * *

 **[?; Necromancy ?**

 **Impose your Will upon another in a Battle of Strength of Wills (** ** _Res vs Res_** **)** ** _._**

 ** _?]_**

* * *

Of all the cryptic nonsense- Impose my Will? What was I supposed to do, give them a stern talking to? Cover them in my Aura-? And then before my very eyes the Page began to delete letters one by one, before writing out just enough to get the point across.

* * *

 **[?; Necromancy, Stat Requirements; Res 45.**

 **Impose your Soul upon another in a Battle of Strength of Wills (** ** _Res vs Res_** **)** ** _._**

 ** _?]_**

* * *

Cover them in my Aura, and just... be willful, Apparently. Might as well start with the one who I had accidentally cast Magic on. She had taken it pretty well, considering I could have given her magical cancer for all she or I knew. "Taylor could you help me test something?" I called over my shoulder, not even reacting as she appeared at my elbow almost immediately. I was startled, however, when she was decked out in a suit of armor so rusty it looked like it would fall apart if I touched it.

How she managed to get it on without destroying it was a mystery lost to focusing on curing Possession.

A gloved hand came up and slapped the Visor of her helmet up so I could see her eyes, and my thoughts must have been visible on my face because she immediately gave me a half-assed and very Cosma-like explanation, "I got bored. What do you need?"

"Your patience," I responded easily as I closed the unhelpful description and placed a hand on her plated shoulder. She gave me a look that promised a slap to the side of the head if this didn't hurry up, and I smacked the side of the helmet hard enough that the thing fell to pieces.

"Hard to concentrate when you're making so much noise~" Ashley hummed at us, and with her eyes closed she missed the scathing looks we both sent her. If the little self-satisfied smirk was any indication, she was aware of them anyway.

"Well," Taylor said impatiently, "Gonna do something?"

"Beat you upside the head and fight the big bad myself if you don't shut it," I grumbled, well aware that I was bluffing. No clue if it would go away if the guy died, after all. Then they might be stuck with it for life.

I shook away the negative thought and **pushed**. Slowly but surely Aura pooled down my arm and collided with hers, much in the same way that it had when casting **[Purge]**. But now it wasn't nearly as turbulent and barely pushed back when my Aura crashed down, like an avalanche moving in slow motion. There was a screeching of metal as I closed my eyes and tried to feel out exactly what was happening, but the only thing I could feel was a… lack of something.

In my mind's eye I could see the edges of my Aura, where the edges of mine and hers bled together, and I could feel the tension in her body at being enveloped in my Aura, but… there was no push back like before. Her heartbeat was slow and steady, even if her Blood pressure was higher than I thought it should be. The organ sounded stressed for whatever reason.

Where was the resistance? It happened every time I did this to someone to use **[Shatter]** or any other Aura technique, where the fuck was it now?

Wait, I hadn't even noticed when I cast **[Purge]** on her, but I most certainly did when I practiced with Marsha. The fuck was this?

"Austin? Hoss? _Boio_?" I opened my eyes and found myself gripping her by both shoulders and with her head leaning away from me with a confused look on her face, but not exactly scared. I only grunted in response, shooting glances at the way that the armor had literally fell apart under my hands without effort.

"Why aren't ya scared, girlie? There ain't any push back from your Aura." I growled at her, now just generally concerned, but she looked at me like I was stupid.

"Because I trust you?" She replied with a snort, as though it were the most simple thing in the world.

"Well stop that," I growled in her face, but that only made her laugh. And that just pissed me off. Here we were, in a literal monument dedicated to the things I could do when I was angry covered in my blood and defeated enemies, and she had the gall to say that she felt _safe_ near me.

"Haven't steered us wrong so far," She explained in a tone that made me snarl, "Besides _You_ wouldn't hurt a friend."

" **Maybe not on purpose** ," I growled as I picked her up by the shoulders and tried to shake some sense into her, "But it's called _caution_ , Girlie! I could kill ya without even _meaning_ to! My aura **explodes** and you let me _cover you_ in the shite, what are you, _suicidal?_ "

She laughed as I put her back on the ground and removed one of my hands, with her still in the seal of my Aura perfectly at ease. Like a moron. A moron who was looking at me like Tank looked at Cosma. She trusted me.

She was gonna get herself killed doing it, too, and I couldn't just sit back and watch it happen. I felt my hackles begin to rise at the thought and my Aura spiked in response. There was a response in her Aura as well, spiking simultaneously, but I didn't care. " **Trustin' me is the literal** ** _last_** **thing you should be doin'** ," I bit out in her face, and she actually had the temerity to frown at me, like I was being unreasonable.

"Well, it's happening whether you like it or not, so get used to it," And like that I could actually hear my blood boiling as I bared my teeth at her. If she wasn't careful she could stress me the fuck out and then there was a ninety percent chance she'd be a smear in the sand. In my mind's eye, I could see my soul raging like a fire, using hers as fuel in a very not metaphorical way. And then a film that was unable to be felt by my neanderthal self popped in the sea of Steel-gray and Yellow-Orange, and I could detect something out of place. It tried to wiggle out of sight, but my Aura-covered right Hand snatched it like I had the bundle from Shebul's Semblance with **[Soul Tear]** , crude claws made of aura digging into it and threatening to break as I tried to pry it loose.

No subtlety, no curiosity, no distractions. I poured Aura into my hand through explosion after explosion until it was shreds in my hand. I knew something was off, Taylor may trust me, but no sane person would let me cover them in what was soul fueled C4. The ghost had gotten to her as well, and I hadn't even noticed. My aura responded to the situation, and I was so fucking _pissed_ that I could barely look at the Screens that appeared in the air between us.

* * *

 **Ability contested, base [Aura]!**

 **Austin; 105 Res. ?; 101 Res.**

 **Winner; [Austin]. [Dominion] Removed. Cost of 5000 (250(Base Cost)/.05(Aura Skill success chance)) Aura.**

* * *

 **Ability contested, base [Aura]!**

 **Austin; 105 Res. Taylor Chesterton; 27 Res.**

 **Winner; [Austin]. [Dominion] Applied. Cost of 5000 (250(Base Cost)/.05(Aura Skill success chance)) Aura.**

* * *

 **Skill Learned; [Dominion, Level 1, Stat requirements Met; Res 45!**

 ** _Respect my Authoritay!_**

 **Impose your Soul upon another in a Battle of Strength of Wills (** ** _Res vs Res_** **)** ** _._**

 **Number of Souls under [Dominion] = (Lvl Res/10) = 11 Souls.**

 **All souls under [Dominion] gain (Lvl/2)% Bonus to Str, Dex, Con, and Agi, and temporary access to the [Deadened] Trait but must make a Res check to disobey an order given by whoever holds [Dominion].**

* * *

What an evil fucking Skill. That it was the only way to immunize them to the enemy was no comfort when I was literally handed the keys to Taylor's free will in such a brutal fashion. And I knew her Res now. Morals were for people in better situations than mine, but such a flagrant removal of freedom was **Maddening** , and the need to do it just to stop someone _worse_ from doing it instead? The Window closed before I got nauseous just thinking about it.

When this was done, this Skill and Magic was being buried, to never be thought about again. The Boost to Stats was not worth the Nastiness, as simple as that.

The Tension in our Auras resolved by mine momentarily snuffing hers out, and for a moment there was only one soul between the two of us. And then I ripped my hand form her shoulder and stalked away, leaving her to stumble back and freak the fuck out. I assumed that her having the Soul leech removed was a similar feeling to me removing my Mask. Sudden, bright, harsh clarity in a moment.

And she didn't have the Game buffering the effects either.

"What are you _doing_?" Ashley asked as Taylor began wheezing at the new intrusion into her Aura. That was another thing about the situation that was odd, where Shebul's and this Ghostly Fuck had pieces of Aura _hidden_ in other people's Aura Mine did not do that.

Bright in my eyes I could see a layer of Steel-Gray Aura over her Yellow-Orange, pulsing in time with her own. The ability to see her Aura began to fade, but the difference between the two techniques was clear in their effect on Taylor, who was hacking out a lung.

"I can protect you from… The Itch," I explained as I helped Taylor stand up and get her feet back under her. "It should even make you better at fighting," I added on, barely able to keep my voice steady with the way that my guilty conscious was wreaking havoc on my psyche.

" _Austin_ ," My leader cautioned as she narrowed her eyes at me, " _What did you do_?"

"What I had to," I volleyed back, "Now, I can protect you from what we have to fight, which can possess and change your mind," I watched as her eyes widened in surprise and waited for her to soak it in before continuing, "But there's a catch."

"What's the catch," Taylor demanded as she stretched and did a set of shadowboxing at max speed, "Can't be physical, I Haven't felt this great since… never, I guess," She finished lamely before Shooting off in a burst of her Semblance, "And it ain't fucked with my Semblance."

"The only way I could make you immune was to…" I faltered for words that would make this sound better, my Charisma making a surprise entrance to fuck my day up. I settled for hitting myself in the face with a loud smack, "I may have Possessed you myself."

Taylor looked at me with a flabbergasted expression, "What's that mean for me?!" She sputtered and flopped her hands in my direction. As she looked to Ashley for support.

"Means the dickbag we're fighting can't tell you to fight us like your partner is fightin' Roman," I barked, now thoroughly past caring about her feelings on the matter. It had to be done, no matter how nasty. And the less they knew about the potential for fuckery the less I'd get bitched out about it.

"It's like a Possession Vaccine," Ashley summarized shortly, "A little in to keep the rest out."

"Yup, And its your turn," I agreed, "Get your shot or you're worse than useless when we go into that Temple. And I ain't riskin' you runnin' off and killin' people while me and her go kick ass. So grit your teeth, Marsha is having an issue we **need to go**."

There was no politeness in me when I used the new skill on Ashley, slapping a meaty hand onto the top of her head in her position sitting on the ground. Ashley, who had a good deal of Res to fight back with, and multiple years worth of Possession floating around in her system to make it a challenge.

Just not enough. The numbers didn't lie, and mine were bigger. The same feeling of a bubble popping under the pressure and I was in. My Aura cocooned her as well, and where she had more than me and Taylor put together, my Will was simply stronger and refused to yield to hers even as it tried to burn me away like the blood in the sand. And like that I could see all that I needed to, her Aura more like a fire than even mine in my angry state.

My right hand fell towards her face, and I saw the look of betrayal on her face before I caught the piece of Aura before it tried to slither out of reach. A moment later and there was a bundle of my aura in theirs and they were protected from being possessed again. I bent over at the waist and tried to blink the spots from my eyes.

I looked over at the two girls, and let the determination overtake me. This was no time for disgust nor second thoughts. It wasn't a moral dilemma if I refused to think about it. Besides, I was near the fucking finish line.

There was bitches that needed killing. And I was _Pissed_.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Outsider:**

 **Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])**

 **Lvl 25: 75/2500 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 62274/62274 HP Regen: 1453 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 2179/2179, Stm Regen: 322 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 10600/10600, Ap Regen: 265 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level; [259/1103]; Natural Stress Relief; 1.05 per Minute.**

 **(5 per even Lvl, 6 per odd Lvl)Str: (150) 161**

 **(2 per odd Lvl, 3 per even Lvl)Dex: 51**

 **(7 per Lvl)Con: (194) 208**

 **(0 per Lvl)Agi: 9**

 **(0 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(1 per Lvl)Wis: 5**

 **(-10 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(5 per Lvl)Res: 105**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 1338**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 53864**

 **Pistol Atk: 304**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 588 Damage.**

 **Mag; 21 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed 15% decrease in speed.** ** _Inherited from Nan_** **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; 2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. 100% to experience gain to the [** ** _Osteogenesis_** **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm].** ** _Inherited from Fenrir._**

 **[** **?];** **?.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** ** _Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period._**

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** ** _you_** **don't respect You?** ** _Gained Through The Little Things._**

 **[Guardian Angel]; 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Fast Regenerator];** ** _When most people lose limbs it's permanent..._**

 **Regenerate a fourth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, half of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Rampant Mutation]**

 ** _Constant regeneration has left you more fit to Fight._**

 **Add 25% of your Con to your Base Attack.**

 **For every 5 points of Con ignore 1 Physical Damage for purposes of Damage.**

 **[Deadened];** **_I_** **Will** **_still fight._** **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** ** _Wade through Blows…_**

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach];** ** _Hard heads Prevail!_**

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

 **[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.550) to (Str*3.7550).**

 **[Destiny Breaker]**

 ** _The Chains that Bind will be severed, and I shall be the shearing force._**

 **-20 Luck.**

 **(100 - Luck)% chance to Break [Curses] and [Blessings] applied to you.**

 **[Marked; [Subjects of Prophecy]; All of those within the affected Group shall recognize you as [Chainbreaker, with the potential to be hostile.**

 **?**

 **[Pack Animal]**

 ** _Familiarity is your comfort._**

 **(-50)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses below [Trusted (Level 3)].**

 **(100)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses above [Trusted (Level 3)].**

* * *

 _What a fucking Chapter._

 _And what did I say, I was off by one. Next chapter is the Climax, and I should be able to wrap up the Resolution in the same chapter. We have progress, we have action, and we got characterization._

 _Or at least I hope we do as this is the largest chapter I've written._

 _Alright, Short Author's Note This time._

 _Review if you would like, They make my fuckin' day even when they insult me._

 _Jericho Out._


	38. Level 3: Resolution

Emily continued to stalk through the Dark Catacombs holding her Scroll in one hand and with her Weapon in its machine gun form in the other. She followed Shebul through the darkness, his hands twitching as he checked his corners. She understood his anxiety and even felt quite a bit of it, because while Luca had gotten stuck with Roman, someone he had beaten every time they went into the Arena and at the very least knew what restraint was, they were tracking Cosma.

She always assumed that she was going to lose no matter what she did, so she always struck like her life depended on it.

They continued to follow the only set of footsteps that disturbed the sand into the dark, no longer in any corridors and instead they were simply never ending rooms that made very little sense in terms of utility. Why were they connected to each other on every fucking door? Why did they have six walls? That didn't matter, as long as it didn't get in the way of her **fight**.

"Emily," Her partner piped up, crouching to observe something in the sand, "The tracks stop here." Ah yes, her helpful partner. She was quite taken with this new dedication to the team, even if she'd never be mentioning that to anyone, _ever_. The Smoke that marked the edges of his semblance began to billow out from his back, and much as she had been trying to drill into him for the past three months it all moved in the direction directly away from her. "Watch the sand," He pointed to the set of footprints that they had been following, causing her to run around and keep watch while he tried to find her with his semblance, "Even if her Semblance removes all the noise that she makes and forces you to not see _her_ , she should still move the sand."

Immediately she backed up until she could feel his knelt form at her back, pointing the Flashlight towards the Door they had come through, not doubting for a second that their opponent would try and stab them in the back. Years of dealing with the girl made it quite clear exactly how low she would stoop.

If she could find no method to win on the ground, well, she had brought a shovel and was willing to dig.

That was why Luca had been so adamant about fighting them, not that there had been anything promising with the children hiding with the Headmaster what with Raul taking Hazel off for a… spar through a few walls. But even more so because Luca had chosen them, and Team ACRA as a preferred opponent. It wasn't that they were strong, because on a technical level Austin and maybe Ashley were above average on the strength charts. But Roman and Cosma were _ruthless_ when they needed to be.

The whole month Team TESL had been training for something similar, only in a much more controlled situation, most likely renting the Arena for a fight or something. But if they had to prove themselves in a live fire situation, where they'd get a more accurate read on where they stood then so be it. The issue was the itch, or whatever it actually was. Emily wasn't stupid, the explanation she had been given alongside all the other students didn't make any sense. Didn't follow any of the rules that she had been taught, and she was expected to let it slide, because someone told her to.

Unlikely. But as it stood she had no idea where it came from or how it worked, not really. All she knew was that it _hated_ waiting. It was impatient and sung for violence. She was concerned that if Cosma came at her in earnest, she wouldn't be able to temper her reactions enough to not seriously harm her.

 _Clack_.

The Flashlight whipped to the right and she strained to see anything that stood out, but found only bones in the sand. She was tempted to move from her position to go check it out, but she wouldn't risk losing an asset like Shebul for something like that. Another pair of eyes and ears against Cosma was important.

She felt the Form at her back shift in the sand with and a bit of heavy breathing. Maybe the directing of his semblance was more tiring than he let on. "Find anything?" She asked, but received no reply. She immediately spun around and held her gun up, Only to be greeted with a lightly panting Tank in the space where Shebul was just kneeling. "Fuck!" She said as she spun around, trying to keep her weapon and Flashlight pointed at the multiple doors that surrounded her.

 _Clack_.

She spun towards the sound, seeing a Bone laying in the previously undisturbed sand a few feet away, but before she could even begin to think about it a voice Hollered out to break the silence and startling in its volume. The bark of an order, with only two words, " **Tank, Fetch!** " She whipped around to the door where she came gun to gun with her quarry, who was bleeding a little and definitely breathing hard. She was also no longer wearing her long sleeved shirt from before and looked to be shivering in the cold catacombs.

Emily Pulled the trigger at the sight of her, but her shots went wide as she was immediately bowled over by the dog as he retrieved his bone. Her fingers loosened only minisculely on the grip of her gun, but with a feverish yelp Cosma darted forwards and swung her Shotgun like a baseball bat, rapping her on the knuckles of the single hand holding her weapon as well as smacking the weapon into the sand a few rooms over. Her scroll went side and landed light up, illuminating the closet-sized room. Emily scrambled to try and sit up, but instead came face to face with the dual bayonets of her Opponent's gun.

Emily bared her teeth, but before she could say anything Cosma pulled out her own Scroll and waved at her before she began shouting at her, " **If you so much as move a muscle I activate my Semblance and hightail it out of here! The moment I'm out of this place, the photos I took of you getting getting into the shower go out to everyone on campus! Give up and the pics stay where they are!** "

"Cosma!" She yelled back, properly scandalized at the mere notion, "How _Dare_ you?! I've never-!"

" **I need a nod yes or a shake no, princess!** " her blackmailer shouted in her face, and Emily growled at the dismissal of her words. Her cheeks burned so hot that she was worried they were visible in the dark, but she nodded in agreement nonetheless. She swallowed her pride and decided that if it were a one on one fight, she'd have won.

But Luca had to test himself against tricky opponents, didn't he? The one that could and would plan for things that no one else thought deserved attention or time and the one that could basically go invisible. But that still left her with a question, "How did you separate Shebul and I? We were standing so close I could feel his back on mine."

" **Thank the Brothers nobody ever looks up!** " Cosma continued to Shout, ignoring her question outright as she leaned back and slid down the wall in relief. Emily immediately looked at the walls, where very clear shoe prints of dirt were visible on either side of tiny room in the light of her Scroll as it pointed skywards from the position it landed in. Emily smacked herself for such an obvious mistake as the adrenaline of the fight began to lower and the Itch ebbed away. Cosma continued on undeterred as Shebul crawled his way around the corner trussed up like a pig with a belt and had Cosma's button up shirt tied around his mouth like a gag, " **Which means you both lost, and I win, which is nice.** **Because I think I have a concussion, and I** _ **know**_ **I'm deaf!** "

* * *

The yellow dust flowed through his Mace as he swung it again and again, arcs of electricity barely missing Roman as they went through their deadly dance. And that was one thing that stuck out to Luca after years of getting surface level thoughts, he thought of everything as a dance, or a play. Everything had a part to play, whether it be as a prop or decoration nothing was not done on purpose. And he was simply the actor, following his stage directions as his feet hit his marks.

The crooked end of his staff swung up and Luca could only smile as he took the hit on the chin, his Aura barely blocking out the pain. This was what a fight should have always felt like, no one knowing the outcome, no one cheating, this was _fair_. That was what he'd been missing, what with a general understanding of whether or not he'd win or lose a fight the moment his opponent showed their face he felt like he'd been cheating.

He felt the pull of the Itch in his veins, fueling his actions forward. He would prove himself a loser or a fighter today, he could feel it in his soul. His very Aura, no longer being constantly expended on his Semblance, could rest easy and try to protect him from his acquaintance, who looked the same as usual, easily keeping pace with him in the melee. Luca had always been a little stronger and a tad more skilled while Roman had always been able to take a few more hits and dodge most of his swings. This was as it should be.

This made his eyes narrow, because he could feel the power of the Itch fueling his swings, making them move faster and stronger than he should have been able to, his single minded determination to improve and progress seeming to have a tangible effect on his capabilities. He had missed this small part of the Traitorous Headmaster's Semblance, which was for some reason having a resurgence. And Roman was easily keeping up with him, as though he were holding back in their earlier fights.

His semblance had never made any mention of it when giving him hints, but that was never solid proof. His semblance liked to leave out pertinent information. But, this was an exercise in trust in some sense, to trust the world to explain without him having to dig for it. Might as well try the overt approach. Time to switch things up.

He feinted an overhand blow to the face, letting the weak hit bounce off of Roman's staff as he fell under his guard. His free hand came up with a mound of dirt and he threw it towards his eyes. In that moment, time seemed to slow down as His eyes met the greens of Roman's wide and observant eyes. The look was an unnatural one for the normally calm and collected man, such noticeable dedication or zeal. Luca was surprised when the man simply pushed his Staff down on his arm and maintained eye contact as the sand hit his face, glasses and eyes without even blinking through the distraction.

He pressed a button on his weapon, which caused it to light up with electricity. Luca hissed as he hopped back from the Madman. He narrowed his eyes as he brushed at his twitching biceps and decided that he wanted an answer before he went back in, "How are you keeping pace with me? I should be stronger and quicker than you right now, technically speaking. I have Exemplar on my side, and you don't. You were always the least affected, the one who refused to fall into the fever of it," He narrowed his eyes and refused to activate his semblance even as the pull of his Aura strengthened in curiosity, "And yet, here we are. With you still keeping up."

Roman did not respond, only smiling lightly before he blurred into motion. Luca barely got his weapon up in time due to his extensive training with his Partner to catch the Crooked head of his staff, but was still thrown back from the force of the strike. Luca pressed the button on the haft of his mace and began to form a projectile, only to find him once more moving towards him, swinging his weapon like it was a warhammer. The strike forced the air from his lungs, and it was all he could do to raise his Aura in preparation for his gamble to create more distance. The flat of his Mace was smacked into Roman's chest, the globe of Aura and Dust exploding point blank in between them.

As Luca rolled away from the explosion, he shakily climbed to his feet, only to see the orange Aura of his enemy glowing in the dark, still going strong after the hit. Looking past that, he once again made eye contact with the man, and only the wisp of Blue energy that wafted out of his right eye let him onto the cause of such a dramatic shift. "Least affected?" he questioned as his Aura began to die back down to invisible levels, "Did your Semblance tell you that?"

"No, it didn't," He answered cautiously wielding his weapon in front of him, feeling his Aura trying to fix the bit of strain the quick onslaught put onto his arms and hands. "But it always told me when others were dealing with it, but never you. You were never acting out or getting in trouble, you were always planning and trying to get by. Not to mention your eyes-"

The blue that surrounded his otherwise green eye burst in intensity, and then suddenly the green was gone as something fell to the ground, and he was stuck with Roman smiling at him sadistically, one eye pale green, and the other a shockingly vibrant blue. "Contacts," He said, taking off his glasses and deftly removing the other contact as well, revealing that the other was just as vibrant, "Helped hide the visible effects while I dealt with the internal ones. And I think I know why your Semblance didn't mention this to you," His smile grew as his aura grew in Luca's sight, and the orange was like a flame as flickers of blue were hidden underneath the orange, "You all got over it, moved on and tried to get better. Not me, I've been dealing with this for eight years straight, not a single day goes by without the Itch pulling me down. Obsession wouldn't even begin to describe what I've been dealing with."

A shockwave sounded as the weapon swung in, and Luca could do nothing but dodge the attack, suddenly panicked by the shift in his friends behavior. As he tried to throttle down on his fear the attack kept going and caved in a wall in an explosion of dust and rubble. " _Did you think I planned things out like I do because I think I'll_ _ **Lose**_ _?_ " The amount of venom he poured into the sentence made it very clear that he disagreed with the assessment.

A jump towards him and Luca hopped backwards with another projectile screeching forward to impact, only for orange aura to coat the weapon almost instantly, so quickly that Luca knew it hadn't been thought out or even thought about, only instinct. Roman face was cold, with a reptilian smile that reflected in the light of their weapons and Aura.

" _I was never concerned about- hrrgh_ ," He grunted out as he parried a swing of his mace, his face and eyes drilling to his quarry even as his voice moved slowly away from the careful neutrality he always gave off, " _Winning. I was concerned about_ _ **how**_ _I won. Whether those watching, those_ _ **paying**_ _, thought me too cruel, thought me too mean. It's always there, the pull to kick someone's teeth in when they bad mouth Cosma, the urge to set their room on fire when someone even looks at me wrong. It's all right there, boiling under the surface. And so I plan, I make sure I know exactly how much force is needed, how many explosives are considered fair game. And then when its time to fight, I play my part,_ " Another Lunge and Luca had to smack the firing end of the Staf away before his own stunt was turned against him, but he was unprepared when Roman spun with the force of his parry to whack him upside the head, " **I plan because I'm scared I'll overdo it! Because I want to give in!** " an explosion of Dust sent Roman rocketing forward, the only evidence to Luca's eyes the burst of flame and smoke that was quickly swallowed by the dark of the hallway.

Luca watched his defeat coming towards him with a smile on his face, and he refused to let go of the hold on his semblance. He had lost, fair and square. He felt himself go sailing down the hall away from him, moving at speeds he'd be hard pressed to do without outside help. His head cracked against the wall and he dropped like a sack of potatoes.

* * *

Her eyes followed the silhouettes as they appeared and disappeared in the rapidly brightening Temple as the gales that surrounded the bottom half of her Body swerved out of the way of projectiles. She could hear the ragged breathing of the tenacious Dogs of War that the Lich had turned them into. No matter how hard she battered them down, they stood back up and came back at her again.

She barked a quick _**Plathadh**_ , a full incantation too long to rely on in a situation like this, as she saw another Glowing Blue eye appear in the dark, a push of wind knocking into the Spearman. Refusing to stay stationary she pushed herself towards the Dias, assuming that the Lich would have to be there for whatever plan he had, but was intercepted by the Swordswoman appearing in her path. Cursing she pulled back on the instinct to respond lethally and instead forced her steadily depleting Aura into her hands to catch the blade.

She grit her teeth when the blade popped through her shield and bit into her palms. _Why did Colton have to train them so well?_ She cursed the Man's methods and abilities, not to mention whatever gods-forsaken woman had birthed him. Quality over Quantity was one thing, but for a team of first years to press a Fully-trained Huntsman was ludicrous. _I don't know where the strength of the Lich starts and where it ends with them_.

Ochre said nothing as she wrenched the sword out of her hands in a spray of blood, much as the Rest of her Team had been doing for the past fifteen minutes. Only Davis Barked occasional orders form the darkness, even the cocky spearman falling into some sort of trance as they came for her. Like a pack of wolves, the only thing they were concerned with was the Hunt. Already commendable teamwork was now pushed to the forefront by the influence of the Lich, and based on the way the Runes were lighting up and pulsing alongside an almost choking amount of Magic in the air she would be forced to put them down, _hard_.

She'd be thrown in prison or killed just like Headmaster Fulvus was, but to see this Temple stand darkened and unused for the rest of eternity was her responsibility. As they fell in a tumble on the Stone Floor she ended up on top and began raining blows down on her student, before a strong kick shoved her off to stand on shaky legs. Not shaky from fatigue, she could fight in a melee for longer still, but the Spells she was using left her feeling pins and needles in all of her extremities. Not to mention what Speaking like this did to her mind. All the time she had spent watching over it and all the times that the Old Witch had reprimanded her for not doing what she was told circled around her head as something in her head began to pound. Heart Rate, blood pressure, or something else it didn't matter.

What did matter was how the unbridled fury and hurt pride affected her Magic, the taint of the emotion that she tried so hard to keep ahold of made her control slip. Something evil slithered underneath the surface, and she felt the pull towards it. The pull to teach the teenagers that dared to attack her a lesson, no matter why they did it. Her Aura spiked as she planted her foot into Ochre's sternum, her eager ears drinking in the sound of rustling clothes and feet on stone coming from her flanks as she repulsed them. She crouched down in a spin, her right foot extending as she did so to catch the Spearman's leading foot and knock him off balance.

She grabbed the shaft of the Spear as it passed over her and pulled him along with it as she swung it up and over her head towards where his partner was lunging in to plant her daggers into her perceived blindspot. Every time she got into a fight, every combatant assumed the same thing; A Dust User? I have to get in close. And when she had first started, they had been right to do so.

After nearly eleven years of training and practice she'd like to think she'd made a little headway on that weakness.

She slammed the two together and then jumped back with a pulse of Aura as she began to _speak_ , " _ **Go raibh an gaotha cuimilt do chraiceann ó do chnámha**_!" A yellow tinted wind tore from behind her, and she watched gravely as the overcharged spell crashed into the Ground and blew every loose sediment away from her, the Three bodies slamming in to the Wall of the Temple.

" _So uncouth, Marsha_ ," The Lich whispered into her ear, causing her to spin around and lash out with another Gale of wind. Her eyes darted around the Room for the source, but once again she couldn't find it. But now it wasn't that the room was too dark to see, it was that it was too _bright_ , " _And so impatient. Always how you wanted it, when you wanted it. But please, remind me; What was it you told Fulvus you wanted to be when you grew up_?"

"What would you know of it?" Another scythe of wind tore through the air as the Magic reached a fever pitch, before realization came to her in a rush, "It was you! The Headmaster wasn't the one who cursed all those students, it was _you_! And here you are, doing it again!"

The whispers seemed to come from all around her as the Lich chuckled at her accusations, " _Cursed? I only did what the Headmaster wanted, I gave them the drive to succeed. They would stride to become what they wanted to be, no matter the costs_ ," The words were said lightly, and she could see how the spirit had so easily wormed his way into the heads of her Students.

Unfortunately for him, she was a witness to the effects of his help.

She rose in the air and began raining down bursts of wind in the room, unable to even see her Students now as her Aura dipped into the yellow, "They were **children**! They're not even allowed to buy a set of kitchen knives, let alone decide what they wanted to do with their lives! And along you came and locked them onto their path!" She could feel her soul soaring in response to such an extensive use of Magic, finally flowing free from her enchanted Glasses and Robes, which had torn to shreds in the Melee long ago and her Glasses were still outside whatever hell she was currently trapped in. Her disgust, her anger, and her rage all pulsed in her head and soul, her Aura wafting off of her like she was on fire. The Purple hue of her Aura the only color outside of Blue that she could see.

She heard the Sounds of feet hitting stone as the students evacuated the room, and as she breathed raggedly and floated in the air, the Lich paused. " _They?_ " The dreaded voice responded in confusion, before he chuckled again, " _Ah yes, I forgot. Not only are you impolite and impatient, you're arrogant. I thought you knew I was there from the beginning, that you knew what I was doing even then. Now I just see that you were just as Blind as your Headmaster_ ," The feeling in her head got worse, the pain escalating to a throbbing.

The wind beneath her cut out haltingly and she fell like a stone to the dias underneath her at the foot of the Throne. Spots danced in her vision, like little voids in the blue of the room as pulsated, and from her position of laying on the floor she could easily see the Magic in the Runes spiralling up the room until it hit the Lens in the middle of the Sloped ceiling, and just like the rest of the Temple it was in perfect condition. Her eyes widened as the words at the base of the walls began to lose their color as all of the Magic was being stored in the lens.

" _But you were always good to the younger years, weren't you?_ " The voice spoke again in her left ear, no longer filling the room in its eeriness. As breathing became hard for her and the pins and needle feeling of Magic left her Body she turned left towards the Chair that was in the middle of the room, coming face to face with a transparent Man that sat slouched in the throne like a lazy King might. He had silver hair and hazel eyes underneath the haze of blue Light that was quickly receding, and looked so ordinary that she wouldn't have even remembered his face had she not been called into his and the Headmaster's Office many a time when she had been but a Child.

The headmaster's Assistant smiled lazily as the recognition showed on her face, " _You remember me? Oh good, that makes this a little less awkward. Not that it'll matter very long for you, Marsha. You were the piece of the Puzzle I needed, an honest to Gods Speaker in this day and age. I knew there was one on Campus, but the Board delayed me in finding them."_

She could only look on in shock as the man that was heralded as a hero who had died fighting a deranged criminal, simply watched her die. And she was dying, most certainly. The Stones she had been thrashing were unnaturally cold underneath her body as she lost the strength to move her limbs. Tears began to prickle at the corners of her eyes as she felt her Aura being drained out of her.

" _A font of magic in an Age that existed without,_ " He explained further, a comforting tone to his voice that made her wish to the gods that she could skin him alive. _She didn't need his Pity, she was-_ " _Useful!_ " He crowed, shocking her as he filled in her thought, " _That was what you told Fulvus! You wanted to be useful,_ " He blinked at the Irony of the situation, and met her eyes with a sardonic smile as a beam of Blue light fell from the Ceiling and hit the Chair, which lit up with an intricate set of runes, " _Well, you were definitely of use to me, though I imagine that will be of little consolation to you._ "

Her vision continued to swim, but she couldn't stop watching as his form began to merge with reality, his fingers curling around the wood of the Chair as he became corporeal, his weight suddenly making the old wood creak with the strain. The darkness began to swallow her as he stood tall, somehow just as alive as she was, "But don't worry, Marsha," He comforted as her conscious struggled to stay above the water of sleep, "Just like everyone else in my Horde, I promise you a new life. We'll be **immortals**."

She struggled against the cold that was seeping into her, both physically and metaphorically as she was being drained for all she was worth. She watched as the words on the walls lit up as her Aura reserves fell like a stone, and she realized why they had been lighting up as she fought. The stones cracked and splintered, but the runes stayed. She blinked the tears away as she tried to pull her aura, her unique gift of the Gods, her connection to Magic. But it was much too late for her, she had pushed too far, and had fallen to her emotions.

The Older Brother must be disappointed in her, not that it sounded like she'd be seeing him anytime soon. According to the Lich, on the other side of the black clouding her vision was an eternity of servitude. And she could do nothing but go peacefully into that quiet night under the sickeningly cheerful gaze of her captor.

Noises began to erupt around her, voices and weapons keeping her afloat, but it couldn't last forever and she sunk into the black..

* * *

 **[Instinct]** was buzzing, smells of rust and iron and sand overpowered by the smell of ozone, like we were running towards a lightning storm. Clarity was striking, as it always was when it descended over me. I could feel the sand shifting beneath my feet, the air that pulled at my face, and the way that the cold air tore at my lungs with each ragged breath. And as my mind into overdrive to keep up with all the information all I could do was stare through the single notification floating in front of my face.

* * *

 **Quest Received: [Witchy Woman!]**

 _ **Magic in a magical world, useful. Magic in ours? Game-changing.**_

 **-Save Marsha Mourie!**

 **Rewards; +3000 exp, +10 Free Points, and increased reputation with Marsha Mourie.**

* * *

I used my enhanced hearing to listen for any hollow spaces underneath the sand as Taylor and Ashley kept pace, batting around strategy for dealing with Team NOVA while I dealt with the bigger issue. I slid to a stop in front of the buried temple, not even bothering to warn my friends as I jumped fifty feet into the air and activated **[Overclocked;Smackdown]** to come hurtling back to the ground at speeds that defied physics.

There was a deafening _Boom_ that rang in my head as the stone gave way to my force and I rode a wave of sand into a corridor that was pulsing light blue, waves of light moving along words carved into the walls. Some light was good, but I needed more. **[Night-Vision; Half-Grimm]** came on with the grinding noise of my Aura activating and pushing through my skin around my eyes and in a second the area lit up in the steely gray of my Aura.

My weapon swung out and tore chunks of stone from the wall as it zoomed into the sides of Team NOVA, who had been caught unaware in their haste to flee the Magical blue light of the Main Temple, and I could understand the feeling. There was an instinctual need in the back of my head, the need to flee from such immense power.

With a feral growl my control slammed back down and the fear was crushed underneath the immensely powerful need to end this as quickly and as painfully as I could. I swept the problem children aside, sent tumbling down a side tunnel while I took the straight shot for my target. **[Overclocked; Trample]** kicked in and I rushed down the long tunnel as I stared at the only spot of color in my vision, the blue so overpowering that it pierced my Grey.

I heard feet pounding and shouted orders to try to stop me, which was wishful thinking on Davis' part, and was rewarded with a crash as Taylor joined the fray, with Ashley not far behind. They'd be enough to at least keep them off of me while I dealt with the Root of the issue, which wasn't saying that I didn't think they could deal with a ragged NOVA on their owns.

I just planned on finishing this quickly.

As soon as I entered the large room, nearly as large as the Combat Arena, I activated **[Power Jump]** and threw myself forward towards the blip on my Mini-map, and the source of the blue in my eyes. Squatting in front of a chair in the middle of the room was a naked man, whose fingers were at the neck of Miss Mourie, who smelt like she'd had the absolute shit kicked out of her. The fuzziness of my night vision made it hard to see, but I was mostly sure that he was naked, and now looking at me as he stood up. A little taller than me, and a little less broad in the shoulders but most definitely human.

With a human body that I could _touch._

That I could **fight**. I had no idea if the sounds of snarling wolves and chains clanking and rattling in his head was Fenrir or some psychosis, but he knew that **he was almost done!**

Immediately my eyes searched above his head for a clue as to what I should expect.

 **[Servico Liath]**

 **[Level 68 Lich]**

 **[** _ **The Original Lich**_ **]**

 _Great._

Okay, my plan may need to adapt with that one number alone. My eyes zipped around the place, and I noticed a faint purple coming from Marsha's mouth like mist on a chilly morning, purple that floated up and almost immediately dissipated.

"Well, hello there!" he exclaimed cheerfully as he clapped his hands, and I immediately felt the effect of some Charisma Skill hit me and then slide off of me like water on a duck's ass. Whatever words he may have had formed or prepared fell by the wayside when I Lunged forward and swung my fist at his face. Surprise showed on his face even as his hand moved up and caught the swing before it impacted. He bumped into the chair and then I dumped the stamina that I recover in a second into **[Thundering Blows]** and hit him once more as my feet touched ground. He blocked this one as well, but you could only do so much for a blow like that and it sent him through the chair and rolling along the Floor.

With a grunt I grabbed Miss Mourie by her Robe and Launched myself for the door. I landed and dumped her in the hallway like a sack of flour, and immediately shouted into my head, ' _Fenrir, Old tongue for Close the fuckin door, ASAP,_ ' while on the outside I hollered into the Halls, "Ash, Grab Mourie and **bail**!" I heard a squawk of an affirmative and I nodded in response as a notification appeared in front of my eyes.

* * *

 **[Dlueth.]**

* * *

I said the word and turned away from the door as it began to shudder to a close.

" _Clever_ ," the Lich hissed as he made his way towards me, all the while stretching his shoulders as he walked. It was odd to see where the grey of my vision blurred together at the edges of the blue that surrounded him, "One of the people I taught used that trick too, though I haven't heard of anyone using it in at least a thousand years. Of course it wasn't even that wide spread then," And then he crouched and _leaped_. His smile was jagged and feral as he pulled his arm back as he flew through the air, " **Let's see if I remember how it goes!** "

I heard the cone of air as it began to form around him and he fell towards me, and I rolled to the left as he landed with a crash, a new crater forming in the ground around him. He gave off an elated laugh as he hopped out of the whole and his Aura simmered down. "Watch out grampa," I goaded and activated **[Panic!]** and **[Project Bloodlust]** at full tilt, watching as his head tilted to the side, but I bared my teeth at him and finished the Taunt, " **Ya might get hurt!** "

"Pff," He blew out a huff of air, "You'll have to try harder to get a rise out of me kiddo," before lightly skipping forward before his hands blurred into motion. **[Brawling]** overtook me, and I fell into the brawl with a fervor very few could match. Every Punch he threw I met with one of my hands or arms, shoving down and out, always away from my body. And the entire time he kept talking, "I'm a Lich- _the_ Lich. I am _immortal_ , to fight me is like fighting time. I've turned the tides of wars, I've killed emperors in their heartlands, and I've deposed Gods that got too lippy. Some _hopped up school boy_ is no threat to me." Once again the effect washed across me and another notification of an effect resisted was wiped away.

And his fighting style echoed the sentiment, as he was like a tide that fell on me, unrelenting and unending in his attack. Every space in my sight was filled with a limb thundering in with a blast of force and with the practiced motion of a Master. Too bad I had learned under someone who fought exactly like that. Minute things that most should have missed clued me in to movements and I knew exactly which blows were likely to give me as a child a concussion or broken arm. I could survive this onslaught without much issue.

But I had never managed to land so much as a life-threatening blow on Nan.

Defeating him in single combat would be an issue, if I even wanted to do that. He had come back from dying before, no reason to say that we wouldn't do it again… Was there? Even as his strikes bled through my block and my Stamina fell from the exertion, I bred my teeth in anticipation. My eyes zeroed in on my target and I decided on my plan of action.

The only issue was that I could _not_ kill the man. A single slip of control and he'd be some untouchable, uncontrollable ball of Aura once more. Had to do this clean and before he figured out what I was after. Which meant this relied on my ability to take a punch and sell being someone's punching bag.

Steadily my Hp dropped as he began to put more effort into his assault, "I've mastered countless forms of war, weapons that you wouldn't even recognize!" With a turning kick that came out of nowhere he launched me across the Room, bouncing along the ground like a ragdoll before managing to get my feet under me and finish the slide upright as I neared one of the four pillars holding the ceiling up. Before I even came to a stop the buzzing and thrumming of Aura came into my senses, and I spun towards the sound without hesitation, slamming a **[Thundering Blow]** clumsily towards the spot in between me and the Pillar.

"Impressive," He complimented me as he calmly floated out of the way of the attack, without a hint of insincerity in his voice I was surprised to note, "For someone so young it is an achievement to have such strength. Tell me, who is your master? What is their family name, who knows maybe I know of them?"

" _I ain't owned by anyone_ ," I growled as I lunged forward with my chain outstretched and circling to gain momentum. I swung the chain in long circles and deliberately keeping it as long as I could for extra range, while my enemy lightly hopped around and out of the way of my attacks even as they carved up the stone as they past. I was so focused on what I wanted to do that it was hard to follow the conversation, because for all that I fought, I didn't speak to my enemies that often.

They usually didn't survive that long.

"Truly?" he questioned thoughtfully as he weaved and danced gracefully across the floor, "And yet you are not surprised when I call myself a Lich? You do not call me a madman, you do not flee when I replicate your _Semblance_?" I smirked at the implied air quotes around the title, "That is what they called someone's Mantra the last time I was in the world of the living, if I remember correctly. How Naive," He clicked his tongue like a disappointed parent as he suddenly disappeared in a flash of Aura, and I responded by Launching myself away from where I had been standing. I barely escaped unscathed as his glowing blue form fell from above and carved out another sizable chunk of stone.

 _Note to self; Ask Marsha about Semblances after she recovers._

I rolled, hard, into a crouch as I landed and turned around with a **[Block]** as he zipped from the newly formed crater, barely managing to catch his shin as it zoomed in at Taylor level speed. My bones shuddered from the impact and a tenth of my health dropped. He bounced off of my arm and proceeded to land a three kick combo as he orbited overhead, all three of which I was forced to block even as he used my own favored technique against me to the point that blood was being forced from my mouth due to internal bleeding.

He landed on one leg, spinning swiftly to land another turning kick to my stomach, but I was not a master of **[Brawling** ] for nothing. I could feel the currents of movement around me, maybe I was feeling the wind. I could hear the muscles in his legs tightening as he moved and I responded in kind. The hit shook me down to my bones, which refused to give under the onslaught thank the brothers, and my right arm slapped down against my side while my hand tightly gripped the flesh of his leg as **[Grapple]** activated and my smile grew in intensity. His eyes widened as I stepped towards him and it was all he could do to mimic me and block my attack, but unfortunately for him it wasn't a barely empowered basic attack.

I forced every ounce of my Stamina into the Hit as I stepped into it, remembering every single lesson Nan gave me on how to throw a proper punch. My head fell towards his chest. My torso followed. My legs pushed off of the ground. Every fiber of muscle in my body was pushing my fist forward, to impact upon his face. I felt the bones underneath my hands give way as the force of my blow fought against the force of my Grapple, eventually deciding to mangle his leg until it could follow the rest of his body. He flew like he had been shot out of a cannon to hit the pillar behind him to embed himself into the stone.

I watched him as his Leg warped and twitched and cracked until it was back in place, and I realized what I was watching. There was no burst of Aura, there was no _Speaking_ as I watched the process. The cuts and abrasions disappeared all at once and broken bones popped back into place like the body was resetting. Before I could put the bizarre thought to mind he called out to me in a voice tinted with Aura and magic, " **You're watching me like you've never seen something like me, but before I was cursed with Undeath I was a Warrior-King. Blessed by Gods long gone,** " He pushed himself from the stone to fall to the floor with sure steps, now a visible anger on his face as he pushed all of his bones back into place, " **And not the Old Man and the Witch, no matter how much they claim to be Divine, they are fakes. They fake divinity like I fake being alive,** " He paused in his trudge, narrowing his eyes as my Night-vision steadily leveled up and became more clear. He spit blood out of his mouth and cracked his knuckles as he moved in, "Gods my ass. Children playing with warheads more like. At least the Younger told me what I was to do _before_ he left us with those twats. Is _that_ why you're fighting me? Some misplaced devotion to a God?"

" _No Gods_ ," I bit out as I pulled together the last of my thoughts, " _No Masters_." I followed my heart, forever and always, even if that sounded sappy as hell.

I surged forward, my feet destroying the words under my feet as I Jumped forward in a headbutt that caught him in the stomach and sent us hurtling through the Pillar fully. As the Thousands of pounds of rock and Dust came crashing to the floor, he pressed his feet into my stomach and sent me flying away from him to crash against the ceiling. **[Osteogenesis]** Kicked in as the last digits of my fingers sharpened and lengthened, giving me a means of purchase against the Stone. _One last target_ , I decided as I activated **[Power Jump]** and **[Smackdown]** as I flew towards the closest of the remaining Pillars.

He must have realized what was happening at the last moment, because he tried to Speak, to do _something_ , but it was too late by then. I crashed through the Third Pillar with a deafening crash, and snarled victoriously at the Lich as he tried to process what had happened. "You- the Temple- _you fucking simpleton_ -" He snarled himself and threw himself at me, but now that the jig was up I hit him for everything that I could.

His Aura took the brunt of the damage, saving his body from falling apart underneath the force, but the force was still there. He hit the Wall of the Temple and burst out into the Night sky, landing in the distant sands with a muffled thump. I took one last look around the Temple and let a sadistic glee take me over as I saw that basically every surface that had been covered in the Old tongue was caved in or smashed into rubble. With one last **[Thundering Blow]** I hit the Last Pillar and watched as it fell over and took the increasingly unstable ceiling with it. There would be nothing to salvage, and very little anyone could do to recreate this thing.

A temple dedicated to transferring and storing matter as Magical Energy, before reformatting it into Matter once more in the form of a new body for a spirit. It was obvious if you could read the Old Tongue, which Fenrir could and had been muttering in my ear for the entire fight about it.

With that taken care of I launched myself through the same wall that I had punted the Lich and landed in the Sand. He sat there, in open mouth despair, as the Temple fell behind me. I didn't care and instead continued to march through the sand towards him. His eyes finally snapped to mine, and now that I could see his coloring and face without Night-vision in my way, I realized that he looked eerily like Nan, except not nearly as Old. Same pronounced eyebrows, the same nose and small ears.

Same flaring nostrils when he was murderously angry.

Bizarre.

He Stormed forward and grabbed me by the front of my Jacket, his hazel eyes flickering blue with his Aura as his emotions got the best of him, " _Do you understand what you've_ _ **done?!**_ " he angrily hissed as he tried to strangle me, but even if he had the higher Str, and after fighting him I was sure that he did, that wasn't all there was to fighting. With a grunt and shove his left shoulder popped painfully out of socket and his arm fell limply to his side, but that was not enough to stop him from accosting me, "Literal Millennia of work, of experimenting, **reduced to rubble?!** _ **Why?!**_ " I rolled my eyes as I went for ye olde On/Off button, and was rewarded when he fell to his knees clutching his jewels.

"Because you broke my one rule," I responded simply, ignoring his pained and hateful glares as his hands scrabbled at my skin to try and rip me apart.

He may be able to produce more force than me, but I was made for taking damage above all else. Even those hits that were taking a tenth of my health were healed over again before he could really exploit such an amount of damage. My steel toed boot came up and then fell like a guillotine on his wrists, shattering both of them in the process and leaving his hands useless until he regenerated again. Not about to make that an easy task, I ignored his screams and curses as more and more Charisma Skills burst upon my skin ineffectually, before decimating the bones of his arms and leaving his flailing in the sand.

If this man would be so dense as to _why_ I was fighting him than I would have to make it clear. All the times that my vision had clouded surfaced in my memory, all the times I had not been given a choice on whether or not I'd be fighting. My mind or my soul, one of the two, would _not_ let me rest until these issues had been put to rest. I let it all surface in my mind, my soul, and I hoped in my face.

 _A speeding van crashed into Nan at breakneck speeds, putting her in the hospital for a week. The classmates that insulted Nan for raising me. The thugs in the Don's employ that had almost burnt down an apartment complex full of people just to get to me. The Grimm that Fell upon my friends at Sahili. The Horde of Undead that had been so close to overrunning the entire school, and finally this undead douchebag who seemed more amoral than evil._

 _There was no power on Remnant that could stop me from tearing the world asunder to punish those that broke my Rule._

"You hurt _what is_ _**Mine**_ **,** " I grit out as every piece of skin was pulled tight in panic and sheer terror of going through those memories at all. The Mask began to form but I stopped with a bolstering breath. I felt the rage simmer and beg to be released as I looked at the man broken and staring up at me uncomprehendingly, but I stamped down on it. The worst part was that I could understand what drove him, and I knew exactly what to say to get the point across to him. Didn't need to hear anything more out of him either, it was clear as day on his face. I regarded him apathetically, "If that temple was your obsession, then my friends are mine." I knew that even if he killed me, or managed to enslave me somehow, he wouldn't even know where to begin to pick up the pieces.

And then I pulled out my pistol and unloaded two entire clips into him just to get the point across. His Aura stopped most of damage, but a few bullets managed to pierce his legs. He screamed like a newborn babe and I scoffed at his reaction to a few bullets.

Man up and take ya lumps.

While he was dealing with that, and making some unholy racket doing so I might add, I opened my Minimap and made sure that everyone was still around, and was pleasantly surprised when I found that they were. I ignored the Notification for the **[Witchy Woman]** Quest and crouched in front of the Lich in front of me. He was simply staring in the direction of the Temple now, with some pitiful look on his face that I understood. Didn't matter much to me though. I could feel the pull of the Dungeon breaking down in response to the Temple falling, and so could he.

But then I noticed something in his garbled words as he tried to ride out the pain, he seemed to enjoy cursing the gods and the brothers and any deity in between. Which was… a leap in logic I couldn't follow. The Gods hadn't torn down his dreams, but if he felt like blaming them and not me, that was fine by me.

I was actually surprised at the amount of cursing he was doing. You'd think that disappointment would be par for the course. He grit his teeth as he rode out the pain, "What do you plan to do with me, _Cur_?" His arms were slowly starting to reform and heal, but we both that would be of little consequence, "You need to make a decision soon, before my crypt falls apart. I've nothing to give you, and an animal like you has very few options to contain someone like me. Leave me here and I can guarantee that I shall not harass you in this life."

A truly benevolent position to take, for an immortal megalomaniac at least.

The difference between our two situations became apparent as the world began to revert and return to the normal world, he faded away with the little slice of reality. He was still tied to his little project and he'd fade away with it if I did nothing. The closest thing to Eternal rest for such a restless spirit. Maybe if he was lucky then he'd make his way back into reality as a Spirit, or maybe he'd be truly gone, sliced off like a tumor on reality. That could be fitting.

But I had no guarantee for when that would be. With a Sigh I flared my Aura and decided that him locked away or lost was not nearly as safe as knowing exactly where the _fuck_ such a nuisance was at all times.

I was _not_ doing this shite again.

With a momentous use of my Aura I activated **[Dominion]** and coated him in the stuff, and much like it had with Ashley in the Forests four months ago, imparting Aura on an object seemed to bring it into reality. I watched as the Sand flowed into the sky and the building of the campus reappeared from the nightmarish Dungeon as I returned to Reality. I looked around the Courtyard as students and Staff emerged, some looking worse for wear while others looked simply confused about the two hours in hell.

With that I told the lich to sit the fuck down and watched as **[Dominion]** forced him to do as I told him to. I spared a glance for my Notifications and only began to relax when both of the Quests showed as Completed and I had a few other Achievements and such to look at. I waited a few seconds, looking at my HUD to see if I had actually pulled that off without going under half health. In a courtyard full of crying children and adults I lamely pumped a fist in the air with a not-so-cheerful "Mission Complete?"

Grumbling and tears were my only response.

* * *

I leaned against the wall as the rest of my team relayed what they had dealt with during the Night, and while my report had been nothing special, the other three seemed to have had a nearly religious experience in the Catacombs. Apparently, using **[Dominion]** on someone with their own dominion over others nullified the effects of it, essentially removing the "Itch" as they called it from the population entirely. Joy all around.

 _Hooo-Raaaaay._

Roman seemed much less tense at least.

While they were going through the paperwork, Ashley having calmly outlawed me from putting ink to an official piece of paper after seeing my handwriting, I was going through the many Notifications I had received from my quests.

* * *

 **Quest Completed: [Witchy Woman!]**

 _ **Magic in a magical world, useful. Magic in ours? Game-changing.**_

 **-Save Marsha Mourie!**

 **Rewards; +3000 exp, +10 Free Points, and +1000 reputation with Marsha Mourie.**

* * *

 **Quest Completed: [** _ **Soul**_ **Purpose]!**

 _ **I wonder what**_ **Possessed** _**them to do that?**_

 **-Stop the Spirit that Possessed your friends!**

 **-Clear [** _ **Zinzanat Almawtaa**_ **]!**

 **Bonus Objectives;**

 **-Uncover the Identity of the Offending Spirit before the end of the Month!**

 **-[Failed] Stop Headmaster Fulvus before he activates [?]!**

 **Rewards; + 250 Relationship with [Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youths], + 3000 Exp, + 10 Free Points.**

 **Bonus Rewards; +1000 Exp.**

* * *

 **Dungeon Experience: 93 Skeletons [Lvl 33-37]*50 = 4650 Exp.**

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Novice Necromancer]!**

 _ **The first step to becoming a true Necromancer.**_

 **-Bind three spirits to your soul through the use of [Dominion].**

 **Rewards; + 1% Res.**

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Guile]!**

 _ **Can't kill what's already dead, I suppose.**_

 **Finish a Combat Quest without killing an enemy!**

 **Rewards; + 1 Free Point.**

* * *

 **+12125 Exp!**

 **\+ 4 Level Up!**

* * *

All the standard stuff that I was used to, just in higher numbers than usual, but I felt like I had earned it. Sleuthing isn't exactly a strong suit of mine, but I had figured it out in the end. I finished inputting the Free Points into the Stats that I wanted, smiling appreciatively as the numbers continued to grow higher. Especially Res, as it eclipsed the Res of the Lich that I had under my control and ensured the safety of those around us. As it stood he was locked away in some broom closet while I dealt with the fall out of his nonsense.

And when the thing was behind us?

I hadn't thought that far ahead. I just knew that he was the singular case where killing someone was riskier than leaving them alive.

Whatever, I'd deal with that later. I pulled up the **[Reputation]** page and scrolled down to the Teachers section with a world-weary sigh.

* * *

 **[Marsha Mourie]; [? (Level 6)] 1598/4000**

* * *

Another Question mark to mess with my life. I never thought that the bane of my existence would be a fucking punctuation mark. So apparently, with **Relationships** at least, the question mark was there until I got them to say what they thought of me or I figured it out myself.

The rub was that they could lie straight to your fucking face, as Ashley did when she said that I was her "Partner". Either she was lying or she and the Game had a disagreement with terms. I wonder how much longer I had to wait before that was cleared up, let alone this new mystery with Marsha. And speaking of Annoying mysteries… I closed out of all the notifications and pulled up the last one and read it over once more.

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Full of Sheet]!**

 _ **Which you are.**_

 **-Uncover two Hidden statuses on your Status Page!**

 **Rewards; ?.**

* * *

Even the Reward was a mystery. I stared at it in fear, realizing that I had somehow managed to figure out what the second question mark on my Page was. How? No clue. I remember specifically _avoiding_ soul-searching in that sand covered nightmare.

But avoiding the issue wouldn't make it go away. I shot one look at the back of my weary teammates and wondered if whatever was on my Status Page would cause them trouble.

…

I mean, it was related to me, so in all honesty, _it would most definitely cause them trouble_. But would it be a substantial issue or something I can just… ignore?

 _Prolly not._

I opened up my **[Status]** and scrolled down to my Traits. Much like it had before when I had first met Fenrir, the hidden trait shimmered and rippled like water before filling in the information.

* * *

 **[Shattered Soul];** _ **A soul so deteriorated that the Older Brother has forsaken it, and refuses to accept it back into his hands. The Body follows the soul, therefore the Body that houses this soul is malleable and follows no plan but its own. Unstable and dangerous, this is a soul to be avoided when possible.**_

 **-5 Luck per Level. Malleable Soul allows for [Racial Shifting]. -60% Ap and regen.** _ **Hereditary Curse**_ **.**

* * *

 **Quest Received; [Soul-Searching]!**

 _ **Who da fuck are you?!**_

 **-Having discovered a hint to your past, follow it to the end.**

 **Rewards; Closure.**

* * *

 _Hereditary_.

 _ **Curse**_.

I took in a deep breath and accessed my Aura to throttle down on the anger that was rising before it got out of hand. Ashley is safe, Roman is safe, and Cosma is safe. _Caaalm_ , I pleaded with myself. I won.

Things were complicated yes, but I was _always_ the simple man in a complicated world. No time limits, no way to fail the quest. If I figure it out, then I figure it out. _It's aaalriiight_.

No it's not, **I'm gonna break somethin'!** I tried to reign my temper in when Ash sent me a concerned look over her shoulder.

* * *

 **[Easy, Boss. It's gonna be fine, don't want to break the office, right? Besides your friends are** _ **right there**_ **, if I can't get you through this, they will. They're alive, they're better than a few hours, and they managed without you. Isn't that something to be happy about?]**

* * *

And like that my anger deflated. Right, I was doing something right, part of something good. I took deep breaths and calmed myself, giving Ashley a quick smile when she quirked an eyebrow at me. The gesture was enough to have her nod and return to her paperwork, and I was only left with a minor irritation.

I couldn't even go on a rampage because I might hurt someone, let alone have someone that could take a punch-

* * *

 **[What About the Lich, Boss?]**

* * *

 _Servico._ A smile etched itself across my face as I realized _exactly_ what job I had for the man. The man who could take one of my Fully empowered punches and survive. Someone who could regenerate from crippled limbs in mere minutes.

I had my own living _punching bag_.

Every little monster's dream come true.

* * *

 _End of the Chapter, End of the Arc._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Outsider]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])**

 **Lvl 29: 1525/2900 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 62274/62274 HP Regen: 1453 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 2179/2179, Stm Regen: 322 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 10600/10600, Ap Regen: 265 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level; [259/1103]; Natural Stress Relief; 1.05 per Minute.**

 **(+5 per even Lvl, +6 per odd Lvl)Str: (178) 191**

 **(+2 per odd Lvl, +3 per even Lvl)Dex: 64**

 **(+7 per Lvl)Con: (230) 246**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 9**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+1 per Lvl)Wis: 9**

 **(-10 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+5 per Lvl)Res: (129) 130**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 1557**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 73979**

 **Pistol Atk: 325**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 651 Damage.**

 **Mag; 26 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm] (Shattered Soul).** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[Shattered Soul]; -5 Luck per Level. Allows Access to [Half-Grimm] Race. -60% Ap and regen.** _ **Hereditary Curse**_ **.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** _ **you**_ **don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Fast Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate a fourth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, half of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach];** _ **Hard heads Prevail!**_

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

 **[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.5+50) to (Str*3.75+50).**

 **[Destiny Breaker]**

 _ **The Chains that Bind will be severed, and I shall be the shearing force.**_

 **-20 Luck.**

 **(100 - Luck)% chance to Break [Curses] and [Blessings] applied to you.**

 **[Marked; [Subjects of Prophecy]]; All of those within the affected Group shall recognize you as [Chainbreaker], with the potential to be hostile.**

 **?**

 **-[Pack Animal]**

 _ **Familiarity is your comfort.**_

 **(-50)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses below [Trusted (Level 3)].**

 **(+100)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses above [Trusted (Level 3)].**

 **\- [Rampant Mutation]**

 _ **Constant regeneration has left you more fit to Fight.**_

 **Add 25% of your Con to your Base Attack.**

 **For every 5 points of Con ignore 1 Physical Damage for purposes of Damage.**

* * *

 _Oh my lord was this a bitch and a half to write._

 _I got through the first three fight scenes in about a day and a half. The last thirteen pages and six thousand words in about a week._

 _In response to H2O Ferrus Dominus;_

 _Drops are determined by Luck, and as ya boi is fucked on that stat, drops will not be created for him. Other Gamers are fair game though, if (when) they make a return to the story._

 _To one of the Guest Reviewers;_

 _I like to think of my story as a less idealized version of a Gamer Story. Most of the Gamer staple powers from the original webcomic are explicitly there to make things clean and idealized in a combat situation; Gamers body to make wounds less impactful, gamers mind to make mental strain non existent._

 _Both serve to remove consequences for a Gamer, and I try to make that a present theme of the Story; Unexpected circumstances arise all the time, how you respond is up to you, but know that every action has a price._

 _Hmmm, In relation to the Plot of the Story, Next up we have the Atlesian excursion where they are chasing down Cosma's Mysterious Sister and doing bog standard non apocalyptic shit along the way. Still dangerous, just nothing crazy. Magic will be taking a back seat now that I have done my best to explain shite and left room for inference._

 _Sometime soon I might be going back and redoing the earlier arcs, hopefully if that happens it'll just be a better worded and written version of the story as it was put out, but I hope to make rereading more acceptable. Also also, I plan to start writing my own original story soon. If anyone is interested in batting some ideas around then send me a message. As always, as I am trying to get better at writing, any issues or things to say, leave a review. Makes my day._

 _Alright, that's my piece said._

 _Jericho Out._


	39. Level 4: Part 1

_Interlude A_

* * *

 _Fires raged around the small town of Halvoen, and the sounds of people dying echoed into the night. Gunfire rang out, and it was all she could do to keep on her feet. Adrenaline rushed through her and she remembered what her Mother had told her about being in danger. Some fight, others flee. She must have forgotten one option, because Cosma was_ _ **Frozen**_ _._

 _Her hands shook as she looked at the collapsed wall on the northern side of the town and sounds of machinery whirring to life as it stomped through the buildings and people alive. Her head very slowly turned back towards the collapsed building behind her, and she couldn't stop the sobs that wracked her body when she saw the bloody arm sticking out of the pile of stone and wood._

 _Her eyes were trained on it, and she tried to tell herself it wasn't who she thought it was. That the shirt didn't look familiar, the hand the one that pushed her out of the building as it fell. She would have stared at it for eternity if she hadn't heard the sound of flesh on flesh. In a panic she threw herself over the pile of rubble and began to pray to the brothers that whatever it was, whoever it was, didn't find her._

" _Not gonna talk, eh?" came a wretched voice from the other side of the building that was once her home, alongside another smack and a weight hitting the dirt. Cosma's fear spiked as she tried to bury herself in the rubble around her and avoid the terrifying voice, but the voice continued to speak despite her misgivings, "Whatever, you don't need to talk. You're coming with me, whether you like it or not. Hell, maybe the Doc'll enjoy the peace 'n quiet while he works for once."_

 _The shadows seemed to wrap around Cosma as the fires burned bright, casting darkness all around the small town. The smell of burning wood and flesh filled her nose, but she slapped her hands on her mouth before she could retch in disgust. The sounds of boots thumped loudly closer to her, and the panic hit its zenith as it eclipsed fear and climbed towards terror. She was a child, and a small one at that. She could do_ _ **nothing**_ _, and it burned a hole in her stomach._

 _When a large man passed by her hidey hole she held her breath and prayed that he didn't look back. He was large, with a black leather jacket that seemed to absorb the light from the fires. Only a large Silver patch seemed to be visible to her, but even that did little to tear her eyes away from the bald head covered from the base of its neck to the crown in scars of some sort. She felt justified to be terrified, as she had seen this man collapse a building simply by yelling._

 _Her eyes sank lower as he made his way back to the hole in the wall, and she made eye contact with the equally scared grey eyes of her little sister. She opened her mouth, as though to ask her older sister for help, but no sound came out. Either way the man saw her and turned to follow her gaze._ ' _ **Don't see me'**_ _She pleaded in her mind, but he was staring right at her. She saw menacing black eyes as they turned towards her, pinning her to the rubble as easily as a spear might have, and she knew she was done. Her breath filled her lungs as she took in one last breath, ready to scream bloody murder-_

* * *

Cosma lurched up in bed with a bloodcurdling scream, only barely stopping when her eyes took in her surroundings and the pink glow of her Aura lighting the walls. Tank continued to snore beside her on the bed, even as his leg began to kick her into the wall, totally oblivious to the turmoil happening mere inches away. She pulled at the sweat soaked t-shirt she was wearing as she tried to stop hyperventilating. _Just a dream_ , she comforted her panicked mind, _It was just a dream._ She cursed her weak mind and the anxiety that was creeping up into her system, because even though she was not at Shebul levels of nightmares, they had been popping up more and more frequently as the day of Team ACRA's journey to Mantle.

She pushed down on her Aura and deactivated her semblance as she patted herself down for reassurance, taking deep shuddering breaths as she calmed down. Her right hand came up to feel her cheek, which came away damp with tears. Her eyes strayed over to the packet of papers that had been given to each of her Team members in preparation for this month's journey to the South-West of the Atlesian continent.

Home. She was going home.

Her damp and red eyes looked around the room, first going to her partner and confidante. He was still asleep, much like he had been before she had even been ready for bed. He hadn't seen anything, and if she had her way he never would. She'd be his annoying partner and nothing more. She had heard his story, and he had more than enough to deal with without her piling on top.

To her right on the opposite side of the room was Ashley, who had somehow managed to make it from her position slumbering at her desk to her bed at some point in the night. She had managed to keep her at arms length for a long time, but she was beginning to suspect that the constant danger was making them bond more than either had anticipated. Either way, she suspected that dealing with Ashley was not unlike dealing with an older sister; equal parts annoyed and patient. There was a comfort in that.

She ignored the stab of pain that pierced her heart at the thought, and ignored it just like she always did. She instead plastered on her smile and tried to get ready to face the day ahead. She was capable now. It wouldn't be a repeat performance.

A low grunt caught her attention, and her eyes went to the last corner of the room. The bent metal of the bed, twisted and rent simply housing the last member. The most dangerous one at the least. The way that the room had deteriorated around him seemed to mirror that. A desk with marks and troughs dug into the wood by hands that refused to be tamed, even by their own head. The chair that he sat in with splintering and pulped wood from accidents caused by the anxiety of the last three weeks.

"You alright?" Came the rumbled response of the golem. Cosma wouldn't tell him this to his face, but she and a few of the others couldn't see him as human. First, there was the monstrous way that he looked, grey hair and eyes like the monsters they were training to hunt. Dark brown-red skin from too many days out in the sun, with scars that criss-crossed his skin in a patchwork of pain that spoke of fights won and lost. Not to mention the way he acted, somewhere between sage and fool. Constantly destroying, but claiming to be on a journey to protect. He made no sense.

It was easier to see him as something out of a fairy tale.

She rubbed at her eyes and wiped away the tears and smiled her brightest for him, "Fine, thanks." He just shot her an unconvinced look and another grunt. That was another thing that she thought odd about him, she lost all ability to lie when she talked to him. Literally the first time the guilt came boiling back up she spilled about her family drama, and in quite a sudden fashion. She hadn't meant to do it, but the stress and the situation were too familiar to not think about it.

And when he asked, she couldn't help herself.

She couldn't place a finger on why though. When she first met him, he had seemed like an easy mark, simply walking around in a snowstorm without any urgency. Trusted her at face value. Defended her to Mr. G when she was going to get more detention. Honest to a fault. All classic signs of someone that she could convince to do anything, at least once.

But then she saw how Taylor treated him, despite all of the similarities between herself and the Faunus, Taylor did _not_ treat him like a mark despite the predatory way that she acted. She treated him like an equal… or her superior depending on the situation. Bizarre. This wasn't even talking about the way that Ashley recognized him immediately, and changed her behavior immediately. Ashley had been lamenting being stuck with someone who was either too arrogant to follow orders or too weak to be of use for the entire month before teams had been formed, not to mention researching places to transfer if she wasn't picked to be put on a team this year.

Then he shows up and she's… Well, Ashley was never _happy_ , but content with her assigned partner.

Ashley _Content_?

Never a good sign.

Some Dope who could, admittedly, fight well, but seemed more intent on taking hits than giving them out. Cosma could only watch with a smile to cover her confusion, even as Roman had no idea what to expect.

Then Austin put her tormentors through the ringer immediately. Both of them had been on board immediately, even if they still had lingering doubts. They didn't want to tie themselves to what looked like a burning boat, sue her.

So she started watching him, when he was alone. She had expected a normal amount of teenage action, but she'd long since grown used to seeing such things. One of the perks of being effectively invisible was that she got to see people at their most real. Their most simple.

Austin was simple. He didn't change that much when he was alone, he acted the exact same no matter who was around. The only thing that changed was the size of the mess that he made. He was patient up until the moment he could act, then he lost all patience and tore into an issue like a ravenous pack of wolves. He was willing to goof off and waste time with other people, but the moment he was alone he was all shop. He was polite to those he met, or as polite as Austin got, but when he felt comfortable he cursed like a sailor.

"You had a nightmare," He stated simply as he stared at his grotesque creation as he moved his finger along the edge of the pocket knife that he always kept on his person. He wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest, though she didn't share the sentiment.

"It's the stress," she explained as she got embarrassed at having been caught. She internally winced at the weak sauce answer, because no matter if it were accurate, it wasn't nearly the full truth.

"D'you wanna talk it out?" He offered kindly, even if the tone was still foreign to her concept of him. He was rough edges and steel, the thought that he had a heart was bizarre, but obvious from what she had seen. Didn't make it any less weird.

"Don't think you'd understand my problem," She said tactfully. She felt powerless, unable to do anything in the face of a threat, and that left scars on her psyche to this day. She was always constantly fighting for attention in anyway shape or form, or avoiding it entirely with her semblance. There was no in betweens for her. She was always scared that she'd… fade away. Like her semblance forced her to do. So she clung to attention desperately, no matter the cost.

To prove she was still there.

"Prolly not," he conceded as he stabbed his knife into the side of his chair like it was a perfectly reasonable way to store the thing before he unholstered his Pistol and unloaded it. As he unchambered it and took the slide off of the thing, he continued talking, "Don't think talkin' about it would hurt though," He continued in his task of cleaning his gun as she thought it over.

"You'll think I'm being silly," She murmured as she drew her legs closer to her chest. Roman didn't say as much, but he told her to focus. That was Roman-Speak for ' _Not important right now_ ,' which was just about as close as the polite boy got. She appreciated that about him sometimes, but when she felt like she needed to vent? She'd prefer someone a little more experienced in emotions. Which apparently didn't mean much, as even when presented with a good ear to listen she still got tongue tied.

"I'm scared of Giraffians, those long-neck Grimm that reside in southern Menagerie," he stated factually as he sprayed down the disassembled parts of his gun. She stared at him like he had grown a second head, but he continued unperturbed, "And some extinct species called the platypus. Arachne's give me the creeps too, now that I think about it. Too many eyes," as he listed out more and more things that freaked him out, most of which were things she hadn't even thought about in that kind of light, she couldn't help the confused smile and the laughter that boiled over as he continued listing things, until he had reassembled his pistol and holstered it once more. He was now speaking whimsically, "-And Birds, the whole lot of 'em. Flying lizards? Lizards act too much like Grimm, _thank you very much_. The fact that some are _fluffy_ doesn't change that. Oh, and water-"

"Are you serious right now?" She asked incredulously as he blinked up at the ceiling. _How many things can one person be scared of?_

"Of course I'm serious," He retorted defensively, "When you're as dense as I am you tend to _sink-_ "

"Not that!" She snapped at him while waving her hands in front of her face before he could start up again, "I thought you were fearless!"

" _Fearless!?_ " He squawked at her in response, "Who the hell told you that?"

"You're always charging head first into danger. Fear never seemed to stop you there!" She whisper-yelled as Ashley grumbled in her sleep and turned over to face her wall.

"No, no it doesn't," He rebuked her soberly, and Cosma could see something unsaid in his eyes but he looked away before she could understand what it was. He continued to talk normally, though, sand she could hear it plain as day, "So, I told you mine. You gonna tell me yours?" Pain. No wonder she felt compelled to tell him every detail of her life story when she was feeling sappy. The first person she could call a friend who wore their heart on their sleeve. Not that she blamed the others for having some type of coping mechanism, but the sincerity was comforting.

She wondered idly if she was a bad person for feeling comforted by someone else's pain. _Probably_ , she decided after a minute of deliberation.

Still, he had offered, and she wasn't sleeping anytime soon.

"Less of a nightmare, more of a bad memory," She confided as she threw her legs over Tank and leaned against the wall to face him better and watch his response. "The first time I used my semblance, actually. Needed to hide in plain sight from someone… _terrifying_." And the man was terrifying. She knew very little about him other than his looks and his strength, and that was enough for her to find fear.

He only nodded in response as he folded his knife back before returning it to his pocket. He kicked his chair noisily under his desk and flopped back into the bed frame that crunched under the weight, and simply stared at the ceiling, seeming entirely willing to say nothing. The silence stretched before she could bear it no longer. "You don't seem surprised," She winced at her own words, but had nothing to talk about outside of it, her memories still fresh in her mind.

He simply shook his head to confirm that he was indeed unsurprised.

She huffed at his silence after such a long period of speech, but decided that it wasn't her place to judge. She was having trouble stringing sentences together as it were.

"Regret?" He asked cautiously, not even glancing at her from his laid back position, his large and bulky form still in the little light in the room. Still, with one word he dug to the heart of her problem.

"A lot of it, yes." She couldn't stop the small tear that the admission brought out of her, and she wondered if he looked away from her so he wouldn't see it. Or so she wouldn't see him.

"Run from a wolf in the day and he'll catch up to you when your asleep. Put him down on the road and you may have to face his pack, but at least you can sleep easy afterwards," He answered with a shrug, "That's how Nan put it, at least. One day the people around here will learn to deal with their problems when they arise, not when they drag them down into the dirt. So much quicker, and so much less painful."

"The memories don't just leave, Austin. Wolf packs can be fought, bad decisions can't," Cosma briefly wondered what it was like in that head of his, _Did they leave his when he told them to_? She shook her head before deciding she didn't want to know if he considered parrots higher threats than Ursa Majors.

He shook his head with a derisive snort, "Sure they can. Just need the right ammo," He grunted at her in irritation, and he flinched minutely in response to something couldn't perceive, "Regret only comes after you've changed. You're a different person than you were when you made the decision. Put in the same situation now, you'd choose differently. That's all that matters," He flopped a hand toward the Dorm of Team TESL across the Hall and grunted as he did so, "Dumbasses too stuck in the past can't move forward, and that ain't helpin' anyone. All they get from it is nightmares and stress."

"Shebul?" She guessed as she mulled over his words. Straight forward as usual, though she guessed that might have been what she needed. No soft comforts, no empty words, or help to avoid the bad stuff. True to Austin, he wanted her to meet it head on. _Could I do that?_

He snorted as his eye twitched in annoyance, "Everyone in this dorm has had a nightmare in the past six months," he leaned his head back into his hands and sighed, "Emily has just as many as her partner, just doesn't have a semblance to weaponize 'em. Hell, Ashley's heart rate is going through the roof as we speak."

 _His hearing_ , she realized with another wince. But then a thought occurred to her; he had said everyone. "You mentioned your fears, but not your nightmares. You have them too?" She watched him carefully, seeing how his face relaxed as he thought the question over. His entire body slowly sunk into his mattress a little more as the tension fled his body like he was in a trance.

She winced as she remembered exactly what kind of trance he was prone to fall in to.

For a moment he only stared at the ceiling, blinking slowly and deliberately. She began to sweat once more as she considered that his issues might be similarly _personal_ like hers were. Her tongue floundered in a suddenly dry mouth as she tried to brush off the question, but then he smiled. She stilled as she took in the person that was in front of her, looking so foreign without a smirk, or some sharp edged expression promising pain. A subtle twisting of his lips in orange light of Ashley's desk lamp was all it was.

A genuine smile.

"Good times," He answered her indirect question with a hint of sadness and longing on his voice. She raised an eyebrow at his response, but he didn't even pause before explaining it, "Ain't had a Nightmare since I was… nine? Ten at the latest. You to wake Nan up with my yells, and she'd sit up with me and calm me down until I went back to sleep."

"How'd she manage that?" Cosma asked, wondering when exactly she would cross the line of asking too much. He wasn't _withdrawn_ , but he definitely didn't shout his shit from the rooftops. But he seemed willing enough to talk for now, and she'd take what she could get.

He laughed, the deep and scratchy rumble sounding warmer than his usual chuckles as he reviewed fond memories, "She'd listen until I was out of things to say, and then I'd ask her a shit ton of questions. She'd answer 'em all until I was tuckered out, and then tell me that if the monsters came back, me and her were gonna chase 'em down and beat 'em to death ourselves," She smiled as he laughed at the memory, and tried to imagine him as a child.

She couldn't even begin to imagine what he was like, or what kind of woman could keep up with him.

"And every time she said it, I'd ask her the same thing," He confided as he calmed down, and Cosma's eyes began to wilt as her body calmed further, "' _How many monsters could an Old Hag like you Fight?_ ' I'd say. And she'd tell me, ' _As many as I need to_.' Made me feel warm inside, knowing that she cared enough to say so."

Cosma shrunk in on herself as she listened to him relive his childhood with such fondness, and she couldn't even bring herself to think of hers. No one stayed up with her, after her Mom died. No one to chase off the monsters and fear. That was part of the reason why she was so attached to Roman, she never wanted anyone else to feel that alone, that helpless-

 _Anything for a friend, right?_

She took in the words, her own words thrown right back in her face. _He already offered to chase down my monsters, and he convinced the school to sponsor the trip too_. Somewhere, deep in the stunted and malnourished thing she called a heart, she knew that _this_ was at least part of why she trusted him, he had offered to help, readily and with nothing in return. She licked her suddenly dry lips as she slowly started to draw parallels between the story he was telling and her current situation.

"I have my own monsters," she started haltingly, not exactly sure where she was going with it.

His smile became melancholy as he began to drift off to sleep, "The best people always seem to."

She smiled at him as his breathing began to even out, but decided to just go for it, "How many of them would you help me fight?"

One last bone-rattling chuckle before he turned towards the wall, " _As many as you need me to._ " Her smile stretched wide as she watched and listened as the bed creaked and cranked before settling, and she felt warmth in her. Not quite the butterflies she got when Roman stopped just listening and actually _talked_ to her, but warmth, that seeped into her bones, her veins. A healthy feeling.

He was wearing down her defenses steadily, and he didn't even know. _Family_ , she thought with awe as she realized what the feeling was, _belonging_. She sunk into her own bed and wrapped her arms around her furry companion, yawning as her thoughts began to wear her down. _Emily's wrong_ , She thought tiredly as she crushed the dog against her chest, _He's human. If dealing with Ashley is what having an older sister is like, then Austin was what an older brother should be. Supporting and loyal. Murderously loyal. Kind, even if he was a bit prickly._

 _This was her family, and the brothers have mercy on anyone who decided to fuck with them._

 _She wasn't in the forgiving mood after what happened to her first._

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

I waited patiently as **[Instinct]** tracked the last Bullhead as it flew West towards Mistral to drop off the Civilian students that were going home for the holidays, traveling away from the Morning sun as it rose in the cloudless skies. Most of them were, after what happened last night, and I couldn't blame them. Janette had sent out a message through the CCT with a lie about one of the students in the Huntsman Corps activating their Semblance for the first time, hallucinations, _blah blah blah_. I had been tying up loose ends on campus, ranging from shuttling my new found _burden_ around Campus to locations that people didn't visit regularly, and avoiding anyone with a bit of situational awareness until I locked the man in a cupboard.

I took in a deep breath and met the orange eyes of my current issue and stared him down despite the inches that he had on me. I had proven handily which of us would win a straight up fight, and I wasn't in the mood to give him an opportunity to stack the deck in his favor. Not that I was really concerned about that right now, not since I had realized what the true issue was going to be. He cast an unconcerned look around the grounds from his seat at the picnic table we were sitting at, managing to look casual despite the situation. His eyes lit up as he looked around the place, "The Board finally okayed the new building!" He rubbed his hands together gleefully, and I winced as **[Instinct]** picked up the sound of sand being crushed in his palms, before a jagged smile appeared on his face and he gestured at Claire's Work, "And look at that, a desert garden! How nice!"

I snapped my fingers and instantly regained his attention, and I watched with disbelief as he tried and failed to stop smiling. Motherfucker acted like a hyperactive child.

Ashley and Taylor lounged nearby on a bench, discussing the night and dealing with their broken worldviews while they watched me try to handle the man. Thankfully, the rest of the forty or so people were either getting debriefed or still asleep, as Janette and Mr. G had pulled an all nighter trying to cover this shit up. Not to mention those that had been overnighted in the Medical ward. Aura had set them right, mostly, with only a few stand outs of those more injured than others. Nothing that would last longer than a few days, not with Aura around. Basically everyone else had either been asleep at the start and managed to sleep through it, _which Keith had managed to do somehow_ , or mentally exhausted from the experience and crashed directly afterwards.

I was still amazed at the mental gymnastics people were going to to justify it, but I wasn't complaining. Less work for me.

I huffed a sigh as another notification popped in front of my face and my Aura spiked in response to a threat, the swelling of _Determination_ flowing through me as it happened.

* * *

 **[Dominion] challenged! You won, [Dominion] Intact!**

* * *

That was the fifteenth time this morning. "How many times do you have to do that until you realize you can't break it?"

"Oh come now, _Milord_ ," He smiled deviously as I scrunched my nose up at the title, "I just got my body back and the first thing you do is lock me in a cupboard somewhere. I know how annoying it can get, having people constantly push at your Aura, so I think I'll be taking my revenge as much as I'm able, _thank you_."

"Spare me the pity party, Servico. I won, you lost," I explained dully as a bit of color crept up his neck and his heart rate increased with his agitation. Then, to my surprise, he took a deep breath and throttled down on it.

"What are you going to do with me?" He asked plainly, and immediately I began to get flashbacks of Nan. The confident way he held himself and the way he looked coupled with the plain way of speaking? He was related somehow. "Order me to sit in some hole for eternity?"

"That would be fitting," I agreed casually crossing my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes at him, "But I don't know yet. Kind of depends on what you tell me. What are your plans?" I felt the magic connecting us flex and pulse steadily, and I watched him carefully to see what would happen.

"I hadn't thought this far ahead, if I'm honest," He said with a chuckle as he gestured at me, "You know how it gets for us, you get so caught up in what you're doing, you don't even think about what comes after."

"Us?" I echoed, dumbly.

" **Deadened** , that's what the younger called it," He explains calmly, and I felt some charisma based skill wash over me, but I ignored it in favor of learning. Just because it was a skill didn't mean it was an attack. "Northern Speakers trade part of their sanity for determination, _dedication_. When I asked for power, he named his price. He was always much more… _up front_ , than the Older when it came to bargains."

"So I've heard," I responded conversationally even as Ashley and Taylor gawked at the casual conversation. I ignored their confusion and instead pulled up the **[Notes]** page for the **[Deadened]** Trait. I closed it with a mental note when it confirmed his description in the flavor text. Honestly, I had never cared where the stuff in the Game came from. As long as I could use it, I was fine. "You have a new body, but you never thought about what you'd do once you got it?"

"Actually," He said as he plucked at the skin of his forearm, "This is my old body, my original one. Took a hell of a long time to get it pull it from the Older Brother's hands, though. And now, he can never have it again."

"That what the temple did?" I latched onto the line of thought before we could get lost in the weeds, "Made you a new body, one that can't die?"

"You're not listening," He rebuked patiently, as though he were talking to a child. As though it were _my fault_ for not knowing his plan. I just destroyed the place, anything else was up to Marsha. "This is my _original body_. Everything that exists was created by the Brothers through extensive use of Magic, and when something dies or is destroyed, it goes back to them as Magic, ready to be used to create something new. My temple captured magic in a small pocket dimension I had designed ages ago. Then I used some obscure Northern Vacuoan scripts to look for the form tied to my soul. The finale was when I activated the magic to matter converters, and like a blacksmith with a cast, poured magic into the form and _poof_. One Body done. Only took thousands of years, but I completed the task that the Younger gave me. I'm free." He spoke with cheerfulness and confidence, and I felt my Aura pulse in response, before his smile fell as he looked at me, "For all of ten minutes, at least."

Somehow, I knew that he was not lying.

I blinked at the feeling, before noticing that much like the first two times, There was a still a layer of my Aura over Servico's, and if anyone would know about it… "The fuck is a **Dominion**?" I demanded shortly. Ever since I had used the Skill to vaccinate Taylor and Ashley, my head had been in a jumble of emotions with my Aura feeling like it was being stretched and pulled at constantly.

He blinked at me before opening his mouth to answer, before narrowing his eyes at me, and I _felt_ his confusion. "Are you _serious?_ You managed to figure out how to use a technique without even knowing what it did? _And you went through with it?_ " He stared at me like I was crazy, and I shrugged in response.

I was not who I was because I was mentally stable.

"Yeah, it was the best of bad options at the time," I sniped back at him, before stepping forward and baring my teeth in his face, "Not that you were making it any easier, **Asshat**. Possessin' my friends every time you floated by, and throwing everyone into a pocket dimension to get smacked around by an army of skeletons."

"To be fair," He reasoned soberly, holding up his hands in front of him like they were a shield, "I forgot the lens had broken, which made my aim a bit screwy. When it activated, instead of a single portal the size of a _chair_ , I got twenty of the things the size of buildings. I thought I'd be in and out with my body in all of an hour without your Mage any wiser. I'd have been off scot free, and no one would have gotten hurt."

"Things never go to plan around me," I informed him blandly as what I assumed was **[Dominion]** informed me that he was indeed telling the truth, even if he didn't sound guilty about it. I ignored the quiet confirmations from our audience as they interrupted their conversation to chip in, Ashley a bit more heated about the issue than Taylor. He raised an eyebrow at me, but I shook my head, " **Never**. Not once. Now, do you have a good reason for possessin' all my friends?"

"I always keep my promises," he said with a hint of steel in his tone, and his posture straightened in his seat, "The last headmaster told me to keep his students focused on their goals, and I did."

I narrowed my eyes at him as I tried to piece together what he was leaving out, but he simply shrugged and explained further, "The same way you placed those two under your Dominion, I did the same to the school. From their I… Gave them the same gift that the Younger gave me and you." I narrowed my eyes at him as some truth was avoiding me, but before I could find it myself another notification popped.

* * *

 **[Boss, the [Dominion] skill grants the [Deadened] Trait to any under its effects, regardless of Res. If what he's sayin' is right, then that word is a hell of a lot more literal than I took it at first glance. It makes the living act like the dead, stuck in one emotional moment.]**

* * *

"So that's what it does," I grit out as I looked at the man, my teeth grinding together as I considered what I needed to do, "It makes people _obsessed._ No wonder everyone on Campus acted like they had a stick superglued to their colon, you fuckin' loony. How the hell did you think that was a good idea?"

"Among other things, fuels their body with your Aura and makes them better soldiers mostly, but it does Deaden them the same as if they were Liches themselves. To the outside world, it would look like an obsession or passion. And if they were focused on something else, they wouldn't notice me," he explained easily, his eyes glowing lightly against the small bit of shadow on his face, "Depends on who uses it, too. Mine was much more invasive than your touch seems to be. I could see what my spirits see. Yours seems to be… A shield of sorts. No idea what it does specifically, but I imagine you'll figure it out when I catch on fire or something. And for the record, not a single person noticed anything wrong until you showed up. Unless you count those brother's forsaken hounds, which I _do not_. So yes, making everyone hyper focused was a great idea, I had free reign over the place."

I waited for him to continue, but he seemed content to let me have a turn. All of my questions were answered, in the simplest of manners. He had tried to do this without harming the school, even if it was only to avoid suspicion. When it backfired, he moved with the flow and used the opportunity to… use those that got sucked in as fuel for his machine. He had been possessing them because he had promised the headmaster asked him to, and from what I could tell he seemed to hold the man in high regard.

I nodded my head at him and considered what my options, before pumping Aura into the connection between us and smiling when he looked as though he had been struck. He blanched under the pressure, and I spoke in my most authoritative tone of voice. " _ **Servico Liath, your case has been heard**_ **,** " I growled in the Old Tongue, and I noted that the very light of the sun drained from around us as I spoke even as the sounds tore at the air and set it abuzz, and I felt the unnatural emotions bubbling to the surface as words surfaced in my head. Words that were not my own, and I assumed that Fenrir was feeding me. Either way, Servico was looking green around the gills, so I continued speaking, " _ **And a decision has been made. Good reason or not, you still moved against his people, and lost the fight. By my decree, you must be punished, but you have paid in blood and stone. All that is left is Sweat**_ **.** _ **You have overcome Death, time to understand life.**_

" _ **You are hereby ordered to protect the students you viewed as Cattle to be culled.**_ "

* * *

 **[Dominion] Level Up + 2!**

* * *

 **[Nice going, Boss.]**

* * *

As soon as the windows appeared, the words that had taken over my head as I spoke, dulling out all other sensation was suddenly gone, and I was left reeling in shock. The words reverberated in the air, burning with electricity as they left my throat, and I tried to blink the bizarre magic out of my mind while I coughed up a lung.

"You want me to _what_?" he hissed in retaliation.

* * *

"I _think not_."

Marsha stared up at me defiantly from her Chair, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She was wearing a much more modern outfit of a button up blouse and long skirt simply because moving about on crutches made wearing robes impractical. Her glasses had been broken in the scuffle and she told me that she needed to craft an enchanting table for her new set in the next week, so it felt like I was looking at a different person as she was now permanently in her less flighty state, purple eyes and all.

She had not-so-politely refused my offer to heal her. Claimed that using **[Purge]** on a battlefield to stabilize someone was fine, but long term healing shouldn't be forced by magic. Made the body weaker, apparently. Soon after her explanation she had stopped sweating nervously at the thought of being surrounded by my Aura.

Didn't mean that the pain wasn't making her rougher than usual.

"I'm gonna be gone for a month, Marsha," I repeated it again as I made sure to hold eye contact to get the point across, "And he is _not_ coming with me. Who am I supposed to leave him with? _Keith?! He slept through an entire Battle!_ "

"Not my problem," She grit out, staying steadfast in her resolve to have nothing to do with the newest and oldest member of staff.

"I'm right here, you know," Servico stated casually even as whatever magic Marsha was casting pushed him even harder into the carpet. I was just glad no one else seemed to ever come to the library if they didn't have to study or serve detentions. Something about Scrolls replacing books or some such nonsense.

"Miss Mourie," Ashley started, and I stepped back to let her handle the negotiations, "Austin told me that your people had an issue keeping Liches down for good, yes?"

Marsha sent me a scathing look that I returned hotly. If she thought I was gonna _lie_ when she asked me what the hell had happened, Marsha still had a concussion. Needed as many minds on the topic as we could get, especially if Magic shite was gonna start popping up more and more. The whole reason the situation had gone down the drain was because no one else had been aware of what was happening. I wasn't gonna let a little thing like the rules of a dead culture stop me from makin sure a repeat performance never happened again.

Irregardless, she pursed her lips and gave Ashley an appraising look, "What about it? From what I'm seeing, he still breathes."

"I don't know if I have to breathe in this body, actually," Servico spoke clearly even as he was smushed into the carpet like a piece of gum. I watched curiously as the tile of the floor buckled under the force of the technique, but Servico held firm and resolute. Which was good, because he seemed intent on making his situation worse. "A choice, really. Makes me feel more human."

"He's bound to Austin's Soul," She stated imperiously before her voice lowered to a volume only I could hear, "Or something." My soul pulsed steadily, like a magical heartbeat that kept me in rhythm with the world, and while it seemed to be invisible to the rest I could see the thick branches of my Aura that was connected to hers. The pulse seemed to be echoed in her Aura, and I watched as she breathed out calmly, easily calming down despite the last dregs of nonsense we had to deal with. She continued on like everything was normal, "and so far he's been nothing but obedient."

"His behavior isn't the problem," Marsha refuted sullenly, looking for all the world like a pouting child, "I just don't think I can stop myself from _killing_ _him_ much longer."

"Never managed to figure that out, huh?" Servico questioned glibly, which caused Marsha to start glowing and growling at him in response. I chuckled as Ashley tried to convince her to settle down, before I felt my aura ripple in response to his question. **[Dominion]** responded and I could feel a little bit of emotion leaking through whatever bond I had created between us. Curiosity, mostly.

" _No_ ," Marsha hissed at the man and began to sweat from the exertion of increasing her spell's power, "I've been too busy trying to _survive_ , no thanks to you."

"Survive?" He asked with a bit of strain, but I could feel the sincerity in our small connection, "Most souls just return to the Older Brother when they died, got recycled and got thrown back into a new _body_." The air was forced from his lungs as Marsha gave a wordless scream of rage. With a crack he has forced through the floor and slowly sunk into the floor about a foot.

"Marsha!" I barked at her in annoyance, "Knock it off, he's not going to do anything, _he can't do anything_ ," With a huff she complied and I hauled up the Lich by the scruff of his neck and felt **[Dominion]** activate as I gave him a new command, " _You_ , shut the fuck up for a second. You're making things worse. Last of her Family, wants to make more Speakers, needs to be alive to fuck," I rattled off as I hefted him to his feet, "Honestly, you're acting like children."

He blinked at me and opened his mouth to argue, but no sound came out as my aura blared. I stared him down as he joined Marsha in pouting, while Ashley gestured at the scene with both her hands, "See, under control. Any other objections?"

"I failed," She said resolutely as she leaned further back into her chair and pouted even harder, " I failed my duties. I've spent the last ten years keeping the Temple locked down tight, and the first time someone tried to get in, they did so. Not to mention that they beat me to a _pulp_. How could you expect me to keep him in check?"

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't trust you," Who did she think I was, Cosma? If I couldn't think of anyone to pass him off on to, then I'd have stuck him in a bag and dragged him along with me. But she was here, injured, and need of an extra pair of hands, and if anyone could disrupt and magical nonsense, it would be another Speaker.

Marsha still looked at me with a look of confusion… and what I thought looked like anger, fueled by shame.

"Learn from him," Ashley suggested slowly, holding her hands up in a placating gesture when the teacher looked like she was going to jump out of her chair and try to strangle us all, "Look, he's a declawed cat right now, " I laughed as I felt the outrage come through the connection and then the second burst of outrage when he remembered he couldn't talk, "You might as well pump him for all the information he's got, even if you don't want him around. And then the next time something like this happens, you won't lose."

"That does sound like it would take quite a lot of time," I pondered out loud, revelling in the small amount of worry that the Lich was giving off. I was going to work him so hard that he couldn't even _think_ about making trouble. Its what the school did to me, and that worked pretty well.

Speaking of Trouble, I followed the third connection in my head and felt boredom and a little bit of happiness coming from the History and Geography section of the Library. I left Ashley alone to do her thing, trusting in both her ability to talk and Marsha's sense of responsibility, and walked carefully down a cramped aisle, stepping over piles of books that looked like they hadn't been touched in a decade. **[Instinct]** gave me a good whiff of the amount of dust collecting on the things as I brushed past, and I choked back a gag in response. Two decades, at _least_.

I could still hear Ashley and Marsha talking while Servico simply settled in to watch, but I instead used the down time, now that I had finally found myself with some, to go over the next goal I had in the near future. With a flourish I pulled out the Packet of papers that I hadn't even deigned to read yet, despite the fact that we were due to ship out in a few days. I tore the packet open without care as I made my way towards the less noisy of my friends at the moment. I slid past a stack of books as I looked down at the page, using the eerie soft light of the Library that refused to make shadows to read as I walked.

It was a map, much like the other one, detailing a number of affected Villages on the Peninsula that the SDC had coerced into submitting requests on the CCT, as well as a copy of each request to prove that they had already been accepted. Below the map was a suggested route to take to get to all of them as quickly as possible, and while I appreciated Mr. G trying to help, I imagined it wouldn't happen quite like that.

 _A few sightings of Beowolfs, an Ursa or five, and a King Taijutu infestation, blah blah blah_ , I intoned in my head as leafed through the mundane requests, _and one lost shipment of Dust._ I squinted my eyes at the last one, turning it over when I spotted something odd there. A Sticky note stuck to the back of the last page.

 _You're contact is in the town of Heimdallr, and goes by the name Winter. She will be your acting supervisor for the expedition. I pulled a lot of strings for you,_ _ **do not fuck this up**_ _. -Janette._

" **You want him to work in** _ **my Library!**_ " I heard Marsha's voice rise in volume as I walked away, "He's a Lich! They aren't dangerous because they're undead, Ashley, They're dangerous because they don't value life! He doesn't even understand what dying is, not like we do, just thinks its like using the _bathroom-_ " I snickered as the sounds of arguing faded into the background and a notification popped in front of my eyes.

* * *

 **Quest Received; [Eyes in the Night]!**

 _ **Finally, a fucking normal ass expedition.**_

 **Meet up with your SDC contact.**

 **-[0/9] Requests completed.**

 **Rewards; +750 exp and + 2 Free Points per Request completed.**

* * *

I nodded at the Quest before closing it and pulling up my Mini-map to take a look at whatever waypoints were actually on the thing. As it was, the nine points were highlighted, and they were all inside the active zone for the Quest to find Cosma's sister, save one. Overlap was time saved, as far as I was concerned. I just hoped that my Sensory skills were high enough for such a large area to be searched, and that my friends were up for interrogating people along the way.

Closing out of every screen and shoving the papers back in the folder, I called out to where my third connection brought me to, and found Taylor sorting through Books on the Floor.

"Ain't found anything, quite yet," She stated without even looking up from the book she was squinting at in front of her face, "But did you know that there is a bird in the southern part of Mistral that makes a habit of carrying coconuts around? And many other things in this extremely _useless book_ ," She complained as she slammed the book on top of a pile. He rears flicked back and forth in irritation, and a fine layer of dust was beginning to coat her hands already, "Seriously, what did you expect to find in here? They ain't added a new book to this aisle since Janette was in charge."

"Maps," I said slowly, "The older the better."

"What the hell do you want old maps for?" She asked as she sent me a scathing look, but picked up another book none-the-less. I guess all her faith in me wasn't due to ghostly interference after all.

Or she was bored waiting for her Team to recover from their injuries. Either one was viable.

"It's been a while since people moved around on any continent other than Vacuo on the ground, and since Grimm technically control a good ninety percent of the Land, Most maps are done in aerial view. Safer and easier," I explained as I knelt down and hefted a large leather bound book and began flipping through it. I felt Fenrir begin to store the Pictures away to compare and contrast later, and pulled up the my Mini-map and moved it over to Atlas to watch it fill itself in. "And they definitely have the larger shape and landmarks visible from the sky. But Old trails are still there, might as well follow 'em. It's how we made it to Burgess, even if you didn't notice."

She grunted in response, "Fine. Got any maps for where I'm going?" I blinked at her before shrugging and handing her the book with a sadistic smile.

"Only one way to find out."

She growled at me, but I laughed and settled in across from her in the aisle. These books weren't going to read themselves.

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 _Alright, The last little dregs of Magic talk to get the ball rolling, Bringing together the consequences of the Last Arc and Time moving on. And prep for the Monthly excursions taking up most of the Chapter. This is going to be focusing on Team ACRA quite a bit, as well as their SDC contact (Wonder who that could be)._

 _Time to put in some work with dialogue, one of my many weaknesses as a writer._

 _Thanks for reading, anything to say feel free to leave a review._

 _Alright, That's my piece said._

 _Jericho Out._


	40. Level 4: Part 2

_Interlude A_

* * *

A tall and slender young woman stood by the door with a polite smile on her face. She kept the expression on her face as her Father slowly but surely ushered the group of lawyers and businessmen from the dining room into the waiting hands of a patient Butler. She internally winced as the rather bloated man at the front of the group stumbled forward and grabbed him by the labels, as she could smell the booze on his breath from where she stood ten feet away.

No doubt it was even worse for Jonas, but he bore the burden like the stoic he was paid to be. "Follow Jonas, he'll take you to the coat room to gather your things," Her Father said benignly as he smiled at the group of people. She would have been fooled as well, if she hadn't been the one to help him practice the smile in the first place. "I have some things to take care of, especially after such a fruitful meeting, so you'll have to forgive me but I cannot escort you out myself." She watched him out of the corner of her eye and could see how he was bent forward just enough to signal weariness and subservience, the pale blue eyes that she shared closed as his head was dipped forward.

The Drunkard holding onto the Butler like he was a crutch guffawed at his words, and she could not stop the wince that the loud noise elicited from her, "Of course, old chum! I was surprised you made time for an old friend like me in the first place!" He laughed a full belly laugh as he dragged the worn upon man under his arm with him down the hall, "I'll see you again once this deal is worked out between us!" The much more subdued guests gave their polite goodbyes to her Father, though they too looked red in the cheeks from the wine that her Father had provided.

She kept her smile up until the large double doors had closed, the sharp blue and white panels of the metal and wood slipping together seamlessly until the portal looked like just another wall. Then she kept it up until all of the staff had removed the remnants of _dinner_ , though she knew that Klein would be preparing something much more filling for them now that the guests were gone. Only when she could no longer hear the footsteps on marble floors did she let her smile drop, and like a physical weight had been removed she felt the urge to relax her posture, but she fought it as she had been taught.

Instead, she watched as whatever warmth that had been on her Father's face drop and she was once again faced with the robotic and inhuman man that fathered her and her two siblings. His narrowed his eyes at her and she felt her blood freeze under the intensity of the look, "You lost your composure when Winston was leaving."

She didn't react to the words outwardly, knowing that to do so would only be seen as further failure, and instead only nodded in acquiescence before responding, "He was louder than I was expecting. It will not happen again." She cursed herself for folding, but she couldn't stand up to him.

He stared her down, and she could see him running numbers in his head like the living computer that he was before he nodded shortly, "This was your first time interacting with him, or anyone else for that matter, while in that state of inebriation. An acceptable reason. What steps could you take to prepare for it?" She could feel that underlying feeling of being tested, and she quickly put together some plan that would satisfy him.

"I'll train in the yard while loud noises go off in the background at random intervals," She said firmly, despite the anxiety in the back of her head that she ignored, "If I am distracted in the middle of an exercise and make a mistake, I'll start over." She stayed still and held his gaze, even as she crossed her fingers behind her back for some luck.

His white moustache twitched even as his face stayed impassive, "Or you could simply deal with rowdy drunkards. No need to go so far." She held her mask, but behind it she reeled. _Her father had just given ground? Made a joke? Was he_ _ **sick**_ _?_ Before she could take the thought to its regular conclusion, he was talking once more. He pulled out one of the chairs nearby and turned it towards her and sat elegantly in it. "I was not lying to Winston when I said that I had things to do because of that _inane_ dinner. Sit, we have much to discuss."

"I thought you had important things to do," She threw out nervously. She sat down nonetheless, for she was still hard-pressed to go against him.

"The training of my successor is the most important thing I can think of," He stated clearly and concisely, and she felt a little warmth in her heart at the statement. She would have preferred to be called something more familial, but she'd take what she could get. But how he addressed her also brought up another issue.

"You know that I want very little to do with the SDC," She watched his face as she said it and a look of disappointment cross his face before it smoothed back out. Jacques Schnee was many things, but an emotional man was not one of them.

"If you truly wish to be rid of the Company then you must be trained before you leave, because you obviously haven't learned enough yet," She refused to flinch in the face of the insult to her intelligence, but he didn't even seem to register the effect his words had on her and steamrolled right on through, "I had you sit in on the dinner for a reason, and it was not because I needed reinforcements to deal with that _lush_. What did you learn?"

"They appear to have the high ground on this deal, and they seem to be assuming that you will accept at the price that they name," She answered without much thought as training took over. And they had appeared that way; Coming in with their terms already printed and signed as though they expected them to simply sign the merger without so much as a contest. That the technology they claimed to have produced would make controlling Mining equipment and the prototypes for the military technology that the Atlesian military had commissioned.

But at the same time… she felt something was off.

"Yes, that is how it seems," Her father agreed easily, and immediately her instincts blared into full force. He seemed to be waiting for her to say something, and she knew she had missed something. She began to sort through the memories of the evening feverishly, looking for what she had looked past before he decided that she wasn't going to find it herself.

"Were they bluffing?" She questioned aloud as small things she had dismissed all came together. The way that despite being such a large man, he had drank just as much as the rest of his people and had ended up roaringly drunk. The way that people ceded conversations to the drunk man, almost _because_ of his state. And the way that they had pointedly _not_ provided a demonstration.

"Knowing Winston?" he considered carefully, folding his hands in his lap as he stared through her, "There is a viable possibility that he funded with his stipend as a Councilman, but it proved to be too much for him to foot the bill by himself. Time or funds, he was unable to finish the project himself and instead tried to turn a profit or come up even by selling intellectual property that hadn't been tested yet. I will contact a few sources of mine in the Engineering Division of the Atlesian Military to see how viable the idea is before I go through with this, but I enjoy the thought of remote piloting. Could save us millions of lien in healthcare if some buffoon can aim a drill without being in the mines. But, yes. They were Bluffing. Well done." She huffed internally at his empty praise as he showed his experience in the department of negotiation simply by speaking.

She knew that he was better than her at it, but she wished he'd stop proving it.

"But that brings me to another issue," He continued blithely, "I was considering your application-"

" _Liar_ ," She hissed and immediately regretted it. He stared at her openly in shock, and she cursed in her mind as she tried to figure out how to recover this, "There is no need to lie to me. You do not consider, you make decisions and do not go back on them. You may have to keep up pretenses with those you work with, but I'd like to ask that you do not do the same to me." She could feel the teenage girl she was supposed to be panicking in the back of her mind while the Schnee that she was being trained to be tried to smack some sense into her. She'd messed up, which meant in the true Schnee way she'd act like she'd meant to do it.

If Jacques could hear her thoughts he'd probably be proud of her, and that made the Schnee inside of her sick. Schnee's did not need recognition from others, after all.

Her father stared at her, and she wished for the thousandth time that he'd blow up and get angry with her. She'd done wrong, called him a liar. Surely that would make him act more human? "Fair enough. I disagree with your decision, and I will not hide it," Internally she sighed at his response, even as he did almost exactly what she thought he would. His eyes hardened as he looked at her in a new light, one that she knew would make dealing with him all the more difficult after she had basically demanded he treat her as an equal, "Do you wish to follow your childish dream of becoming a Huntress?"

She pulled in a deep breath to steel herself for the oncoming argument and nodded resolutely, "I do."

Her Father nodded back before pulling a folder from his Briefcase and slapping it in front of her, "Then I have a task for you. A group of Hunters-in-Training are landing on the shores of Solitas in a day's time, and you are to meet with them and escort them to their numerous assignments."

Her eyes widened at the stack of papers before looking up at him, "You'd let me go? Just like that?"

"You will be escorting the man that protected SDC assets in _Sahili_ against the White Fang Deserters," her adrenaline spiked as the images of the aftermath of that battle flashed through her mind. The wood of the armrests creaked under her hands as she reflexively gripped them. _Throwing her to the Wolves? After all the time spent training her as his replacement, the moment she showed the hint of resistance she was disposable. She should have known better._ "I am assured that a month spent with Team ACRA will expose you to the worst that the Huntress's life could throw at you by reliable sources. If you make it through a month with them and still want to become a Huntress, then you shall do so with my blessing."

"Father, Thank you. I won't disappoint you."

"Either you come to your senses and agree to become my successor or you go on to do what you want to do knowing what could go wrong. Either one would be acceptable."

"I could die."

"Oh, Winter. Schnee's don't die. We pass away."

* * *

 _Interlude B._

* * *

Green eyes looked out over the bustling campus of Beacon and towards the Horizon towards the north. Even after eons spent apart, he could still feel her Magic, and for the longest time, it had been just the two of them, followed by the Maidens.

His eyes shot towards the west as the Spike of Magic disrupted his contemplation once more. He had felt a few of his hammerspaces fold in the past few months, and he had thought very little of it. They winked out when they had dispersed all of the Grimm in them, and that was their nature. But He had not expected the new signature that came along with them.

To his eyes he could see a pillar of electric blue light that stretched into the sky, though the students underneath were blissfully unaware. His hands tightened around his cane and mug, before he downed half of the drink.

It was no longer just the Wizard and The Witch. The Old World was returning.

There was work to be done.

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

The earthy tones of the large room mixed with the soft burgundy of the carpet to form a regal and imperious feel, and the way that the books floated over our heads as we poured over page after page of old paper and ink just added to the mystical feel to the place. The wood that made up the bookshelves was Mistralian Yew, and weak to scratching, easy to enchant. They were littered up and down with the Old Tongue and pulsed under my hands as I looked for books.

Ever since I had begun learning form Marsha I had begun to feel the way that places pushed and pulled at my aura, something that Marsha said was entirely normal for Speakers. Something to let them monitor the ambient Magic of the World around them and adjust accordingly.

I was only an exception in so far as I had so little Aura that I needed to push mine out of my skin to activate it. I was doing so now for Fenrir's Benefit, as he was curious as to what was happening, while I catalogued information for my next expedition. I narrowed my eyes as my Aura stilled against my mental pressure and then a Notification appeared in front of my face. Ashley looked up from the table we were sharing and quirked an eye at me.

"What?" I grunted as I put down a stack of books on the floor next to my chair. I ignored the impact of a wayward textbook that smacked into the side of my head thanks to Marsha's Semblance and pulled up the first book in the stack.

"Is your power acting up?" She asked as she narrowed her eyes at me, "Your Aura is behaving oddly," She shook her head back and forth as she considered the statement before correcting it, "More than usual at least. I usually can't sense it at all, but now I can. Which is enough of a change to warrant my involvement." I didn't quite catch some secondary meaning in her words, but I could tell that she wasn't too thrilled about it. Her eyebrows were drawn together and she was watching me intently behind her glasses, molten amber now wary and waiting for the other boot to drop. The expectant way that she assumed something bad was coming reminded me of Nan.

Maybe existing near me for too long had this effect on people.

I shrugged at her before letting go of my tenuous grip and let my Aura settle back down in it's home at the base of my spine. Immediately the tension left her posture, but I saw her blink in confusion at the action, "I was just tryin' to get a sense for Aura, and it doesn't work if I don't bring my aura out past my skin."

"What do you mean "Past your skin"? Where is it normally?" She questioned as she folded a page as a bookmark, and I winced as I thought about Marsha seeing that. My ears perked up as I realized that I was once more an aberration.

I idly wondered how out of the realm of normal I would be this time.

"In my body?" I hesitantly explained as I thumped the spot lightly, enjoying the resistance that my skin gave me. I knew _exactly_ where it was too, because **[Osteogenesis]** had been feeding me information more and more information as the skill leveled, granting me a certain level of awareness for the inner workings of my body. I could feel every bone where they sat cushioned in my flesh. Much like **[Instinct]** and **[Detect Bloodlust]** let me follow the locations of others nearby, I could feel where my bones were, as well as the bones of other people. I had yet to try to influence them quite like I did with my own, but that was mostly because it was a tedious and time consuming process if I didn't have a blueprint already conceived and it wasn't an effective combat strategy.

But at the same time, this let me monitor my Body on a level of detail that I knew to be abnormal. It took Huntsmen years of training to be able to pulse their aura like some crude echolocation to assess their own general state of health, but I had bypassed that entirely and simply watched how my body interacted with the bones in my body and the Stamina that I pumped through it.

A source of energy that I was beginning to suspect was much deeper than simply a metric for my general fitness.

Doing so I had removed multiple lumps of metal that had broken off of weapons inside of my body, but hadn't been listed as a debuff. Which just proved that I needed to be observing myself as carefully as I could afford instead of relying on the Game to do it for me. Wouldn't do to be out of commission because I got complacent.

Ashley, oblivious to my internal ramblings, raised an eyebrow at my answer before a look of comprehension overcame her face, and she tapped the heel of her palm against her forehead and forcing irritated words out through gritted teeth, " _Stupid, stupid, stupid_. I should have known," I waited for her to calm down, and after a moment of incoherent muttering that even **[Instinct]** couldn't help with she explained, "I thought you were dampening your Aura on _purpose_. For normal huntsmen, that's a skill that takes months to even attempt, but can be a matter of life or death in certain situations. It makes it harder for those with Aura to sense you, as well as makes it harder for Grimm to track you down as they follow your Aura more than your scent. Dampening your Aura is taught as almost the _first_ Aura control technique specifically because of its utility," She stopped her explanation and gave me a look from behind her glasses that made it obvious she was in Leader mode and I needed to be paying attention.

I surreptitiously moved the Notification out of my vision and gave her all of my attention. What she was talking about, _a formal education_ , was something that I was alone in lacking. Even Taylor had three years of training school before the Mount fell.

I was learning programming at the time.

"For most people, they have to consciously pull their Aura back into their body to dampen it," She explained as she briefly flared her Aura into the visible spectrum and I watched as it wound slowly into her skin, "It's not an issue for you, because you have so little of the stuff that you aren't overflowing. And if you aren't doing it consciously it explains your extremely shitty grasp of Aura Control," She finished with a sigh before she held her right hand and forced her Aura into her hands, "Let's start with the basics; What do you know about Aura?"

Immediately my eyes blurred as I began to recall the lessons that had been drilled into me so long ago. I had been beaten until I could repeat the bit of trivia and many others like it even if I were at death's door. Without thought, I repeated the line to her, "Aura is Mistralian for Breath, and is named as such because the Older Brother breathed life into us," She quirked an eyebrow at me and I felt my cheeks darken in a blush as I coughed into my hand, "Outside of that, I know very little." _Damn Nan and her outdated training methods!_

She ran a hand through her charcoal grey hair and sighed, "Well, you aren't _wrong_ , But it's so much more than that," She gripped the bridge of her nose and exhaled deeply, "So much more that I have no idea where to start."

"I mean it's fascinatin'," I hedged, wondering how she'd take my words. She looked up and pinned me with a fierce glare. Her eyes flickered like flames as though she were daring me to continue, but I was never one to back down form a challenge, "But I don't need to know the History. I don't use my Aura," I shrugged as she shook her head at me.

"Then I'll focus on the things that matter to someone intent on _handicapping themselves_ ," She retorted with dry humor, "There are benefits to becoming in tune with your Aura, even if you don't use it that often. They move faster, hit harder, and think more clearly. Raul said it was because you were more in tune with your soul, but I have no idea if that's correct. You'll have to grant me a little patience and try it anyway," She glared at me but all I did was smile ferally at her and nod. I was not above trying new things, and the books would be there when we were done.

She let out a relieved breath, as though she expected me to ignore her or stomp off, but I liked having new toys to play around with. Experiment with, and make mine. And if she was willing to show it to me in a Library, then it must have been simple, if not exactly easy.

I loved simple things, more specifically taking normally underused things into extremely _deadly_ territory. Such as chains, not exactly known as the weapon of a hero, and the ability to hit a little harder than usual, which did _not_ usually mean that someone could level mountains with a punch. But here I was.

"Alright, the first thing you need to do is work on moving your Aura properly," She confidently reached over the table and pulled my hands onto the surface, "I'm going to tap a place on your arms and I want you to move your Aura there, and _only_ there," She looked me in the eyes as she lightly tapped the palm of my left hand, and made eye contact expectantly.

I blinked at her actions before I did as she asked and pulled my Aura from my spine to my hand, which began to shimmer with my Steel-grey aura. I kept my hand above the table so that it wouldn't _explode_ , "Like this?"

"Just so," she congratulated me, before tapping my right elbow, "Once you have the gist of it down, I'll see if I can get you do this without flaring it so obviously." It continued like this, with her tapping a spot and me taking about thirty seconds to get it to move where I wanted it to, for about ten minutes before another pair of notifications popped in front of my face, reminding me of the screen I had pushed aside to talk to my partner.

* * *

 **Skill Learned; [Aura Sense]; Level 1! Stat requirements, Wis 15 and Int 25/ [Res 80] met!**

 _ **Baby Huntsman's first toy!**_

 **-Ability to sense Aura/Magic techniques in a shortened range. Can be focused for more information.**

 **Range = (Wis/5)*Lvl = 2 feet.**

 **Costs 100 Ap/sec.**

* * *

 **Skill Learned; [Aura Control], Level 1! Stat requirements Wis 30/[Gained through Training under [Ashley Charbon]]!**

 _ **It really was this easy, Boss.**_

 **-Raises the Minimum and Maximum value of Aura Technique Failure Chance by 1% per level. Current values = 81% Max, 6% Min.**

 **-Boosts Ap Regeneration by Lvl%.**

* * *

 **Skill Learned; [Reinforce], Level 1! Stat requirements, Str 25 and Wis 25/ [Str 30 and Res 50] met!**

 _ **The first true technique most Huntsmen learn, and carry through their career.**_

 **-Increase physical stats by flooding your muscles with Aura.**

 **Passively increase Str, Dex, Con, and Agi by (Lvl/2)% = .5%.**

 **Actively increase Str, Dex, Con, and Agi by (Lvl*5)% = 5%**

* * *

I blinked at the notifications before narrowing my eyes at them. **[Aura Sense]** I could understand, as I hadn't really been trying to use that Skill before, but I know for fucking certain that I had moved my Aura like this before. **[Reinforce]** was new, but I had certainly moved my Aura around my body. With the addition of the skills it was certainly getting easier, and I felt the stagnant and unyielding energy that was my Aura moving sluggishly where I wanted it.

But I could feel it. The strength coursing in my fingers as I smacked Aura into my hands, and my body barely contained it. I could feel every muscle fiber and tendon rejecting the influx of Energy, save for a tiny minority.

About six percent of them, if I had to guess.

I turned off the Skill and pulled up my Stat page and checked my stats, confirming that half of a percent wasn't much of a change. But **[Reinforce]** was only at the first level, and I had every intention of changing _that_. I couldn't keep a smile from stretching its way across my face.

I was brought out of my thoughts as superheated fingers grabbed my left ear and _twisted_ , "And you were doing so well, too," I gave her an unimpressed look as I rubbed the organ of cartilage and skin, before she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms with a disappointed look on her face, "And I know its a nice feeling, but wipe that smile off your face. You'll scare Marsha." We both pointedly ignored the squawk that came from the damaged teacher behind the counter, "Outside of your… _delightful_ expressions, it looks like you've got the hang of it enough to do it on your own, somehow. Practice enough and you may actually be able to do something with your Aura without endangering the entire team."

"Oi, stop dissin' the mug," I barked as I waved towards my face, "Bein' this ugly has stopped many a fight before I ever had to square up!" I grumbled abusive leaders under my breath as I opened up the **Big Book of Atlesian Grimm** to keep an eye on what monsters we might encounter. _Wasn't my fuckin' fault I looked like someone took a chainsaw to a piece of leather_. _Bring it up with whoever birthed my ass and the Grimm who fucked me up, not me._

After a minute of leafing through the pages for Fenrir to add to the **[Bestiary]** on the off chance I needed to know anything about them, I noticed that Ashley hadn't responded or returned to her book. My hearing let me hear her heartbeat slowly speeding up, so _emotion_ was involved, and I internally winced in response. I chanced a look up at her, not at all surprised to find a contemplative look on her face, and I felt the connection maintained by **[Dominion]** to get a read on her face, and was happy to find that she was _not_ angry. Simply a little confused as she glanced down at her hands.

 _Because that's so much better._

"If you're expectin' me to keep a conversation goin', you got another thing comin'," I grunted at her, watching as she blinked awake from whatever thoughts she was having. She met my eyes and a bit of color rose in her cheeks, but she covered it by coughing into her fist. ' _How much odd behavior before concern is warranted?_ ' I wondered as she pulled herself together. "Something wrong over there?" immediately I began going through all other signifiers of discomfort and distress, my eyes zipping around what I could see of her before meeting her eyes when nothing stood out to me.

"Nothing for you to worry about," She said distractedly, as she stared at the table for a moment, "A personal matter. I'll deal with it."

"Despite how much you may dislike it, I'm your partner. And your _friend_ , for all that's worth. It's my job to worry. Anything I can do, all you have to do is ask," I explained clinically. Instincts rumbled in the back of my throat, whatever animalism leftover from being **[Half-Grimm]** making itself clear even as I slammed down on the noise. When a member of the Pack had an issue, it was the Pack's problem. No exceptions.

It was also a lesson I was in the process of implementing in my own decision-making process.

"Always so generous," She huffed at me, and suddenly I was back in familiar territory; exasperation. She gave me an amused look, and I watched as her heartbeat calmed down and her blush dissipated, "So giving. Keep it up and you might give a girl the wrong idea."

"Comes with the territory," I returned easily, my smile once more in place, "Ain't gonna make me stop helpin' people."

She sighed and I could feel the amusement through **[Dominion]** even as she looked down her nose at me condescendingly, "Couldn't even _pretend_ that I was special? For shame, Austin."

I didn't even look up from my book as I continued to soak in page after page of information for Fenrir, snorting openly at her words. "You're still around," I responded, my voice breaking and becoming rougher than I meant it to come out as, "That's _pretty damn_ _ **special**_ _to me._ " I glared at the Notification that popped directly after that.

* * *

 **[Charisma Check; Critical Failure!]**

* * *

Internally I winced, as I had labelled this conversation as safe. Looked like I could still fuck up something this simple. Blearily, I exited the notification and noticed the surprised look on my partner's face as she processed my words, and I bit back a sigh as her blush threatened to creep back. Thankfully, it wasn't like I had said anything I didn't believe.

It just came out a little too truthful.

 _Desperate_.

She sobered quickly, though I could see her preening under my unintentional praise, "As always, your honesty is… refreshing. I guess I should respond in kind," She explained carefully, and my eyes shot up and gave her my undivided attention. An opportunity to help was an opportunity to repay my debts. "I'm… a little lost, in all honesty. I've been rather focused on something ever since I was a little girl, when Janette read me to sleep. Tales that sounded far-fetched and outside of the realm of possibility, though I never quite cared about what others said. I had seen enough to prove to me the world was much larger than the minds of men and women," She shook her head derisively before continuing, as though she couldn't help the bitter tone that overtook her, and I was reminded of the deaths in her family. "The events of Last Month have proven to me that not only is Magic real, but so are the Brothers. But at the same time…" She showed no signs of discomfort or stress, as usual, but **[Dominion]** told me the truth.

She was worried.

"Scared?" I had a smile on my face as I said it, but it wasn't my normal smile. Much smaller, and pulled at the skin of my face less. Showed less teeth, and was just a softer sight on the eyes. I had seen others taunted with similar questions, but she did not take it that way and instead understood what I was getting at.

" _Yes_. Nothing makes sense. Stories that had been too outrageous for even me are true, the Dead walk again, and my teacher is a master of the elements," She gushed at me, only now finally losing her mask of an indifferent and unimpressed young woman. In her place was the anxious girl, dealing with monstrous powers beyond her abilities, "I expected the Old Wizard and the Witch to have been real, but to hear that the Brothers themselves exist? And used to interact in the daily lives of humans, that's terrifying! At any moment, I could simply be snuffed out, erased from existence and no one would even know. And that's not even taking into account all that could be learned about Magic…"

She gripped the bridge of her nose in annoyance, and I barked a laugh at her as **[Dominion]** made me aware of a smaller emotion, hiding beneath the fear. "You're excited, aren't you?" I may not _like_ that I had essentially bound two of my friends souls to my own, but that didn't mean that it wasn't useful. I couldn't figure out how to turn off the Emotional feedback either, but that was no excuse.

The only thing that made up for it was the edge it gave them in combat.

She shot me a reproachful glare but I weathered it with a shit-eating grin. I waggled my eyebrows until she relented with a smile of her own, "Of course I'm excited. It's all Emily, Taylor and I have been able to talk about for the past few days, and I imagine that will not change for a while yet. Magic is _real_ ," She breathed out the words like saying them could warp reality. But they couldn't, so they didn't and instead I enjoyed her _awe_ as she thought at incredible speeds about something that I had already sworn off.

I was compromising by working with my Aura.

I'm so gracious.

"Then what's the issue?" I asked once she was less giddy, and immediately the smile on her face became brittle. Most of her more mature attitude returned and she coughed into her fist once more. I wasn't complaining about seeing her so excited, but she seemed to be bothered by the transparency. She'd get used to it, I had a thing about breaking down walls.

Literally _and_ metaphorically.

"I've been striving for personal power by any means necessary. And when I was growing up that was learning when to smile, when to listen, and when to act. How to get what I wanted from other people. Once I had gotten a hold of that form of power, I learned how to fight," her eyes flashed as she lightly frowned in my direction, "I've always kept my eyes peeled for opportunities to get a leg up on those that might end up being against me, and a memory of my Mother telling me the Story of the Seasons came up. I've looked into it and found traces of evidence that there is a powerful Magic that is transferred between women. An older Woman in Atlas, suddenly switching Semblances on a whim to stop a massive avalanche, with powers that makes what Marsha does look like child's play. The traces were scrubbed before I could do anything more than print out a copy of the Article, and I've been trying to keep an eye on things when I can. Never told anyone outside of my Mother, mostly just to avoid ridicule, not to mention that accessing private CCT communications without clearance is highly illegal."

"Ah yes," I rumbled at her as I watched her grumble to herself, "Because who would believe in Magic?"

"Who indeed," she agreed with a sardonic smile before sobering, "But that's no longer an issue. Magic has been proven, and I find no need to hide it any longer. And since there are reports on a Maiden on Mantle…"

"You want to take a detour and look into it," I finished as I thought it over, "I don't think Cosma would say dick, seein' as we're helpin' her out while we're there as well. Roman could say no, but I don't think he would. Just a bit of talkin' to people, maybe we book it if the old hag gets a little feisty, I'm sure he'd be up for it. He likes a good shot of adrenaline, the same as I do."

She narrowed her eyes at me, "You'd agree to go chase down a mythical power so easily?"

"Yes," I stated simply and definitively before going back to my book in, barely taking any time to read the Notification that appeared in front of my eyes. And then I felt them try to tear themselves from their sockets in protest to what I was seeing.

* * *

 **Companion Quest Received; [Ash and Burn]!**

 _ **Pull this off and it'll be her Claim to Flame!**_

 **-Help Ashley investigate the Rumors of a Maiden on Mantle!**

 **Rewards; + 10000 Exp, + 20 Free Points, + 10000 Reputation with [Ashley Charbon], [?] Trait, and -1000 Luck.**

* * *

My Mini-Map spun up and highlighted the entirety of Atlas, but I knew that if Ashley had that article, and knowing her she had five copies of anything she had managed to find. The bigger issue was the rewards.

The only thing comparable is the **[Monsters of Old]** Quest, which is about taking out civilization ending Monsters. My eyes shot over to the young woman on the other side of the Table, finding her looking much more confident, and back to the girl I knew as my partner. I had agreed, and always would have, but that didn't stop the thoughts from going through my head as I stared back at the **[Quest]** Screen.

 _The hell had I just gotten myself into?_

I jolted from my thoughts as Ashley rose from her seat and placed her book on the shelf next to our table. She paused when she passed me, before hesitantly gripping my shoulder. "We may give you grief, but you're a good friend to us. And the best partner I could have hoped for," She spoke shakily, and I felt how tight her grip was on my shoulder. I wondered what her face would look like if I turned around. I decided I wouldn't chance it and stayed still to let her speak, as she seemed to be having a rough enough time as it was. "I didn't expect that, if I'm honest. I thought you'd be a menace when you first showed back up. Refusing to listen to orders, getting detentions all over the place, and getting into fights. You acted like a goofball, and treated my Mother like she was just another student. But you care enough to listen. That's not what I wanted out of a Partner… But I think it's what I needed. So, thank you." She let go just as hesitantly as she had spoken before slipping off in between the aisles without another word.

I blinked at the jarring mental image I had of her as a very self-assured and confident person and the words she had just spoken, before settling back in and flipping through my book.

 _Wonder if Roman has a Quest to do while we're in Atlas, too?_

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Austin Staín**

 **Class: [Outsider]:**

 **Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])**

 **Lvl 29: 1525/2900 exp to Next Level.**

 **Hp: 86071/86071 HP Regen: 1978 Hp/Sec**

 **Stm: 2597/2597, Stm Regen: 383 Stm/Sec**

 **Ap: 15229/15229, Ap Regen: 384 Ap/Sec**

 **Current Stress Level; [259/1103]; Natural Stress Relief; 1.05 per Minute.**

 **(+5 per even Lvl, +6 per odd Lvl)Str: (178) 191**

 **(+2 per odd Lvl, +3 per even Lvl)Dex: 64**

 **(+7 per Lvl)Con: (230) 247**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 9**

 **(+0 per Lvl)Int: 1**

 **(+1 per Lvl)Wis: 9**

 **(-10 per Lvl)Cha: 1**

 **(+5 per Lvl)Res: (129) 130**

 **Free Points; 0.**

 **Attribute Points; 0.**

 **Atk: 1557**

 **Max Thundering Blows Damage: 73979**

 **Pistol Atk: 325**

 **Def: Phys; 80%.**

 **Mag; 0%.**

 **Debuff; 80%.**

 **Shell: Phys; 651 Damage.**

 **Mag; 26 Damage.**

 **Attributes:**

 **[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed.** _ **Inherited from Nan**_ **.**

 **[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [** _ **Osteogenesis**_ **] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm] (Shattered Soul).** _ **Inherited from Fenrir.**_

 **[Shattered Soul]; -5 Luck per Level. Allows Access to [Half-Grimm] Race. -60% Ap and regen.** _ **Hereditary Curse**_ **.**

 **[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%.** _ **Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.**_

 **[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even** _ **you**_ **don't respect You?** _ **Gained Through The Little Things.**_

 **[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.**

 **[Fast Regenerator];** _ **When most people lose limbs it's permanent...**_

 **Regenerate a fourth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, half of your Con's worth Stamina per second.**

 **[Deadened];** _**I**_ **Will** _**still fight.**_ **..**

 **Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.**

 **Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.**

 **Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.**

 **[Juggernaut];** _ **Wade through Blows…**_

 **For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.**

 **+5% Atk**

 **[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.**

 **[Direct Approach];** _ **Hard heads Prevail!**_

 **When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.**

 **[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.5+50) to (Str*3.75+50).**

 **[Destiny Breaker]**

 _ **The Chains that Bind will be severed, and I shall be the shearing force.**_

 **-20 Luck.**

 **(100 - Luck)% chance to Break [Curses] and [Blessings] applied to you.**

 **[Marked; [Subjects of Prophecy]]; All of those within the affected Group shall recognize you as [Chainbreaker], with the potential to be hostile.**

 **?**

 **-[Pack Animal]**

 _ **Familiarity is your comfort.**_

 **(-50)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses below [Trusted (Level 3)].**

 **(+100)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses above [Trusted (Level 3)].**

 **\- [Rampant Mutation]**

 _ **Constant regeneration has left you more fit to Fight.**_

 **Add 25% of your Con to your Base Attack.**

 **For every 5 points of Con ignore 1 Physical Damage for purposes of Damage.**

* * *

 _Whoof. What a chapter._

 _Not much to say here this time, review if you have something to say._

 _Jericho Out._


	41. Level 4: Part 3

_Interlude A_

* * *

"What in the world have you been doing?"

The question cut through the silence of the board room as the rest of the board members looked up from the reports that she had put in front of them. Inside of the papers were the most believable spin that she could put on the situation of last week, and even that was stretching it. She resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose and stared unflinchingly into the eyes of the stuffy old man that was looking at her in concern.

"Dealing with the mistakes of Headmaster Fulvus," She returned easily, still seated casually in her chair and looking for all to see unaffected by the situation. No matter how untrue that was, staying calm was a tool, useful for keeping others calm in the face of bad situations. She watched as almost all of the people in the room flinched at the mention of the name, even the two backers that had entered into the business after the demise of the former headmaster.

Everyone knew the name, and they disliked the mention of him for different reasons; the New flinched because he sounded like a monster of a man and the old because he was a monster of their own making. That being said, the mentioning of their mistake was not enough to make the man back down, and he pursed his lips as he regarded her, "I trust there is an explanation?" The rest of the members rallied behind the forthright man, who gave off the air of a retired military man. She knew his wife more than him, but from what she understood, he had agreed to invest in the school as a form of charity; produce those that protect the world from monsters.

He had also been extremely volatile when Fulvus had been uncovered as a... _nasty_ _man_.

"The short of it is that the effect that we had associated with Fulvus' Semblance was in fact the Semblance of another individual, and when said person was put under duress they activated the full extent of their Semblance," She made eye contact with him and saw him blink in realization as his skin lost all of its color. _Good_ , she thought mercilessly, _he bought it_. "The most we can figure out from eyewitness testimony is that it produced an extremely hallucinogenic reaction in the staff and students ranging from near mind control to thinking they were in hell."

"And you?" Asked the refined older woman sitting to her right, the oldest benefactor of the Academy. She looked concerned, but more with her investment than Janette's wellbeing, "Did you suffer the effects yourself?"

She paused to consider how to answer, weighing all of the information that Marsha had provided her in her mind, before deciding to just go with what had happened to her. "Yes, it was quite trying," She answered with a smile. That was the most true statement she had said since the meeting had started, "Thankfully, it seemed that the perpetrator was most focused on those with strong combat ability, so I was not controlled. My Husband however…" She trailed off to let the lady fill in the gaps.

"The Report doesn't list the name of the person responsible for this attack," observed the newest investor, a polished young man that had made his money in the communications industry selling patents to the SDC. Put together, and entirely too observant for her liking, but that was useful in itself. You could count on the observant to catch the obvious information and ask the questions you wanted them to, "Any reason for that?" The entire room focused on her, and she was immediately thankful that She and Marsha had spent so long coming up with a good excuse for that lapse in information.

"That is because we never figured out who was responsible," She answered with a brittle smile, waiting for her cue to continue.

"You didn't figure out who was to blame?" The older man nearly shouted in fury, only stopped from jumping from his seat by the tight grip of his much calmer wife, "How can we be sure that this matter is settled then?!"

"It seems that whoever it was overextended and made a miscalculation. They focused so much on the staff and older students that they neglected to properly reign in one of the first years," Immediately she watched every single one of their faces drop at the mention of the first year class.

More specifically, one particular member that had been a large drain on their renovation fund.

Even the perceptive young man slapped a hand to his head in an attempt to stave off the headache that came with that particular student, "What did Staín do this time?" She suppressed the chuckle that threatened to slip out at the sight of what was usually a composed group of upstanding men and women all deflating in their seats.

If there was one thing she could throw at them as a distraction, it was him.

"Dealt with the problem as he is prone to doing," She explained reassuringly, drumming her fingers on the table as the only outlet for her happiness, "Unfortunately, that means that there was very little in the way of remains to identify the attacker with. On the other hand, there has been very little in the way of lingering effects, in fact the staff that have been around since Fulvus report that the effects of the semblance are gone entirely." She resisted the urge to cross her fingers for good luck and waited for the investors to regain their composure.

"Have you taken any steps to lessen the likelihood of this happening again?" The old man demanded sternly, and she thought that it was telling that he was the least affected by the shenanigans of Team ACRA, as well as their largest supporter at the table. A man of results over methods if she had ever met one.

"We've contracted a New huntsman that specializes in... _Mind-altering_ Semblances," Which, if what Marsha had reported was correct, was understating it by quite a margin, "To be on the lookout for similar instances and train others in detecting, resisting, and breaking the effects of such Semblances before they become such issues. It is an elective at the moment, but I'm thinking of pushing it as a required course if he proves to be a capable teacher."

"An impressive skill to come by, and so swiftly after an attack of this magnitude," The younger man commented, and Janette smoothed her face out as she tried to think of a good response.

"He is the Twin of Fulvus' Assistant Headmaster, who had been tracking the assailant ever since he had fled the school. He landed on Campus the day after the incident and we immediately put the man to work," She strung the lie together and through it out there, and saw some of the older members nod in sympathy while the young man simply narrowed his eyes at her, and she knew that she'd have to offer him something to either sell the lie or convince him to trust her to deal with the aftermath, "The Board hasn't been involved with the hiring or application practice in a few years, but I'd be glad to introduce you if you feel the need," She offered politely.

"No, I'll trust your judgement headmaster," He said as he shuffled through the papers without even looking up at her, "I do have some questions about the report that might take awhile, but I'm sure everyone else would simply be bored by the conversation," He smiled politely at her, and she returned it before moving on to help the other members with a few more questions about the incident and other mundane policies.

Maybe fifteen minutes later the room was mostly cleared, leaving only her sitting at the head of the large wooden table and him seated half down the right side. She waited patiently as the footfalls of the other members faded away and only then did she start the conversation with a smile, "Well, don't leave me in suspense. What do you have for me?"

"A compliment for your acting ability to start," He offered in a much more relaxed tone as he pulled an envelope from inside his jacket, "You did well, up until that last part."

"If you didn't push me so hard, I wouldn't have to lie like that," She returned with ease, having had this conversation with the young man many times, "But enough of that, what of the information that I asked you to gather?"

He gently placed the envelope of disks onto the table, "You were right, somebody kicked the Hornet's nest in the SDC, and what happens in the SDC quickly spreads to Atlas and Mantle. The whole continent is up in a tizzy."

"Any idea who it was?" She pressed as she swiped the envelope before scowling at his shaking head, "How about what they did?"

He shrugged his shoulders as he stood, "They've been tightlipped and Jacques hasn't sent anything about it on his Scroll, so nothing concrete for me to report. Though, I imagine that those recordings might have something decisive in them, just might take you a few days to go through them properly. Why did you want to know, or even decide that something was going on with them _now_ , of all times?"

"The First year teams are going abroad, and my daughter's team is going to be working with the SDC on Solitas. Information could save her life," She explained as she slipped the envelope away into her briefcase.

"Didn't explain how you know to start looking," Her informant pointed out casually.

She smiled as a faint light appeared in her eyes, "Call it a hunch. Now get out of here before your Bullhead leaves."

"I own the damn thing and I pay the damn pilot," He snarked as he headed for the door, "That dumbass better not leave me behind. _Again._ Good luck, Janette, you might need it."

* * *

 _End of Interlude._

* * *

I pushed through the door to the Arena and scowled at the lack of other students in the coliseum seating. I thought about pulling out my Scroll and checking for the fifth time, but I was interrupted by the voice of Mr. Gibraltar coming from the stage.

"Mr. Staín," He called in his usual polite tone, "I'm glad you came, I am in need of your services." Immediately alarm bells began to sound in my head, no mention of my "Services" ever meant good things. My eyes narrowed as I took in his attire, no longer in everyday dapper suit and instead replaced with a jacket the color of salt over a button up and combat pants. Hanging from his right hip was a short sword in its sheath, and along his belt were pouches upon pouches that rattled as glass hit glass.

 **[Colton Gibraltar]**

 **[Level 50 Blade Dancer]**

 **[** _ **Show, Never Tell**_ **]**

All in all, he looked ready for a battle. Which just brought forth the question that had been in my head since I had read his message…

"What do you need me for, teach?" He shot me a disapproving glare, but I had been getting those literally since my first memory. He'd have to try harder than that to make any kind of headway.

Besides, names weren't exactly my strong suit.

"I'm in a rough situation," He explained slowly, "But after eleven years I am finally in a situation to correct it."

I quirked an eyebrow at the man when he trailed off into silence before shrugging, "Still ain't said what you need."

"I have an issue with going for lethal blows," He stated simply as he pulled his weapon from its sheath. I pulled in air through my nose as **[Instinct]** went into overdrive analyzing the smells on the blade, and I was immediately hit with the clear and bitter scent of Blue Dust, snorting when ice began to form inside my nose. Double-edged dagger, in the trench spike fashion for guards. Agility and Dex, if I had to guess at his stats. He continued on as I watched him. "I hate the sight of blood, bone, anything that should be inside of a body."

"Must make watching my fights pretty bad," I joked, but he only nodded seriously.

"That would be why I asked for your help. You can take lethal blows and survive where others cannot," He watched me with an expectant look, with his weapon held in front of him as he settled into a stance that I hadn't seen before, lightly shifting his weight from backfoot to forefront, "You also have very little issue going for the kill. I think you are the best suited for this."

"Sounds Painful," I considered thoughtfully, weighing why I should really help him. Saving people from death was one thing, helping them with menial labor was pretty close, but letting someone tear out my heart to become desensitized to blood? That was another. If Ashley, or Roman, or Cosma, or Taylor, or literally anyone on her team, or even _Janette_ , had asked I'd have agreed without hesitation. What was a little pain when it would make them better?

But Mr. G? I didn't _dislike_ him or anything...

I just didn't care. He was a big boy, he'd figure it out eventually, my help or not. And as I watched him standing there, regulating his breathing even as his heart beat slowly picked up the pace, I realized something. Something that kind of made me frown.

"You expect me to attack you?" I questioned, half-incredulous and half-resigned in tone. His shoulders tensed at the words, and his eyes narrowed. "Just like that?"

"You have needed very little encouragement in the past, One Mr. Nilah comes to mind," He replied evenly.

"He insulted someone who had done me right. Beating the shit out of him was the least I could do."

"Someone who you had known only… what was it, A week? A week _at most_ and you defended her honor?" He gestured to his pant leg, "Pull the other one." Leave it to this man to make his first joke in the middle of an insulting conversation. That was when I realized that **[Detect Bloodlust]** was active, and this man was a red dot on my map.

He wanted to fight, he wanted to see me bleed.

"I don't know what you're doing teach, but the more you insult me the less likely I am to fight you," I watched as confusion skipped across his face, and pushed the point forward, "If that's what you want, then it's the last thing you'll get from me. So how about we start over, _Why am_ _ **I**_ _here?_ " I could feel Fenrir begin to pace in my head as I started to get angry. Not stressed, so I wouldn't fall into my sin or anything, but irritated because I knew he was lying to me.

He huffed a sigh and loosened his stance, though he still watched me wearily like he expected me to charge the moment he put his guard down. _Ha, as if I'd make it that easy for him_. "You continue to enrage me. Violent at the drop of a hat, and a pacifist at the next. I need to be able to… Kill. Or I'm useless. I can't go on missions, and I can barely protect my students."

"Get to the point," I growled, for the first time in a while. I had been doing so well too, acting human. "And stop lying to me. You ain't doing this to learn how to kill. The way you're sizin' me up says you're well past ready." I'd seen it before, in literally every enemy I'd been forced to kill. The glint in their eye, the way they watched, the way they moved. Like they were already distancing themselves from the action.

And now I was seeing it in one of my teachers. Interesting.

His shoulders were tense, but I refused to move. He was waiting for me to move, to give him a reason. "Stop pretending," He called clinically, like a surgeon sizing up a tumor they were about to remove. No emotion, no attachment. "We both know you want to fight, to _kill_. You've done nothing but that since you got here. I mean to put you down like the rabid dog you are."

Images flashed through my mind, entirely independent of the Game. I remembered every single face of those I had killed. They all watched with the same eyes that the man in front of me did.

Not a single face stood out to me.

"Never killed without a reason. Never when I had the time to do something else."

"Are you really trying to tell me that you did what you did because you had no other choice?" His voice was sharp and bitter, and his weapon hand gripped his dagger so hard the metal began to creak. He took a step forward, before snarling and reconsidering the action.

Then he leaped forward with a yell. His normally composed face was alight with fury as he descended, and I only watched as he fell towards me, screaming like a wild animal. I huffed a sigh as the blade flashed down, honestly impressed with how quickly he moved and how precise his swipe was. Where anyone else I'd fought could only achieve that level of acceleration with Aura enhancement, he was doing so without it. I felt the blade pulse with Aura as it came in, the Dust activating and spearing flesh, grinding against bone.

The dagger shattered the ice it produced and slammed home in my heart, and I watched as twenty percent of my Hp dipped from the strike while my feet skid across the tiles of the arena. My arm came up as **[Block]** activated just in time to catch his boot on my forearm. Instincts honed through constant sparring against quicker fighters screamed to life as his entire body flickered from view without a hint of Aura. **[Instinct]** blared out as the hole in my chest healed, but I didn't have to wait for long as he appeared in the space he had started in.

"You're a **monster**. You don't even _die_ correctly," He grit out, now looking much more red in the face and angry. Not to mention that he moved with a noticeable limp. "You just have to act like you're not one because we're here, right? If I took you out into the Sands would you fight me? Try to kill me? _What would it take?_ " He growled before he disappeared once more. I listened impassively as his voice began to take on a dual layered quality to my enhanced senses, like a whisper hiding in the wind behind his words.

His weapon slammed home into my eye socket as my Hp fell to half with a single strike, before dropping to around forty percent when he twisted and wrenched the weapon free. He took a single step back before executing a turning kick into my stomach, All the while he was basically foaming at the mouth as he swiped from left to right, aiming for every blood vessel in my body as he went, working methodically. I felt my Regen struggling to keep up, so I pumped my Hp regen with **[Second Wind]** and just bore the attacks without a single counterattack.

"You just kill and kill and kill," He spit out in his rage as he jumped overhead, and I sighed as the blow swept down once more to punch through the top of my skull. "And no one says anything to you. No one looks at you any differently, and you don't even look like it affects you! **No more!** " The first crackle of Aura sounded his activation of **[Aura Enhancement]** as he pulled my upheld arms down and he pivoted slamming me down on my back, forcing the air from my lungs. I rolled to the side as another spear of Ice impaled the ground where my head had just been only to catch a boot to the face for my efforts. "I felt sick everytime I thought about what I needed to do, all because of that ponce Fulvus. And then I felt worse every time I thought about all the people I could **avenge. That I could** _ **save**_ **. But now!?** " He punctuated the end of the statement by grabbing me by the front of my jacket and tossing me end over end away from him.

As I rolled to a stop he appeared above me and began to chop and hack at me, but thankfully the lack of a good angle made his attacks turn aside upon my metallic skin. I weathered the assault as his attacks picked up speed and began to punch through my shield. " **How could they let you be anywhere near this school! Everything you touch rots or breaks! The people you talk to? Your "friends"? I'm watching them turn into monsters too!** " My Aura spiked in response to his words as my irritation turned to _**Wrath**_ and I hopped to my feet. The words seemed to come from all around us, and from nowhere at all.

When he came careening in for another volley **[Overclocked]** activated and my hand shot out to meet him as **[Grapple]** ensured the maneuver caught him dead to rights. I latched onto his wrist and twisted as my foot stomped on his own to ensure he didn't try to roll with the force to keep a hold of his weapon. His free hand slapped at my own, then my face, and then he tried to dig his thumb into my eye.

I ignored his struggles and twisted until I felt his wrist snap, and then I twisted further until the rest of his arm crunched as well. And still he held onto his weapon with a righteous fury. My foot lifted off of his for but a second before I slammed it down on his knee with an equally sickening crunch, and then I let him fall to the floor. He raged against the pain, and I let him for a moment, before I decided to put this to rest. "Let me get this straight; You think I'm a violent monster, hellbent on doing whatever the hell I want no matter the consequences. Apparently, your plan was to antagonize me until I snapped and tried to kill you, at which point you would feel justified and/or have an excuse when someone asked why you did it. When that didn't work, you decided that the world would be better off without me no matter what I did or said," He glared up at me as he clutched at his mangled arm with his functional hand. He instead spit a glob of blood at me, only for it to fall a few inches short.

With that it was decided.

This was not Mr. Gibraltar, at least not entirely.

My hand shot out and I activated a skill I hadn't needed to use in a long while; **[Soul Tear]**. My hand became coated in my Aura as his own light blue Aura became visible to my eyes, and I could clearly see the large shard of nearly translucent Aura that was almost the same size as his own Aura spliced onto his soul. My Aura coated hand caught a piece of it and tore it free, watching silently as the man fell unconscious as I began my meticulous work of trying to pull it off of him.

Something was using his disagreement with my methods to influence him, that much was obvious.

 _If he had been in control, he wouldn't have been so sloppy_ , I reasoned as I tore at the shard of Aura slowly and methodically, _He teaches Cosma, he'd have easily thought to rig the place to blow._ With pieces the size of my fist I chipped away at the thing that was easily the size of a small boat as it tried to futilely resist. _Unfortunately, that means that he's thought of killing me, probably more than once._ I paused in my work to cast **[Purge]** on the man to simultaneously remove some of the malignant Aura and get the man's body back into working order. _Marsha said that magic like this can only mute or amplify someone's thoughts, never create new ones._ As his leg bent back the right way and his arm unspooled like some macabre slinkie I saw his eyes snap open and then lock onto me as I worked.

"Gimme a minute here, teach," I growled at him as I grabbed the last big chunk and ripped it free, and I watched as the feverish fury that had clouded the man's judgement disappeared entirely. I stood and brushed my bloodied hands on my equally bloody jacket out of habit before examining my handiwork.

He was in one piece, and mostly sane if the tears were any indication. I ignored the man falling apart as I instead glanced over briefly at the fifty odd messages that indicated what I had been working on.

"Mr. G," I spoke seriously, even using his name to get his attention. His eyes were red when he looked at me, "I think you figured out how to go for the kill. Mission accomplished." I extended one blood covered thumb and smiled widely for him.

"I-I don't know what came over me," He spoke brokenly as his eyes went roofwards once again, "I tried to kill one of my students. I'm not fit to be a teacher. _I'm a monster._ "

"Next time you feel like that, like the world would be a better place if I wasn't in it, just remember that I felt that way about every single person I ever killed," I let the words hit him and sink in before I continued, "The world makes monsters of us all, it seems."

Though it was less the world's fault on this charge, if the notifications were anything to go by.

* * *

 **[Divine Influence; ?] Removed by 1% on [Colton Gibraltar].**

* * *

 **[Divine Influence; ?] Removed by 1% on [Colton Gibraltar].**

* * *

 **[Divine Influence; ?] Removed by 1% on [Colton Gibraltar].**

* * *

 **...**

* * *

 _Divine influence eh? The brothers seemed to be tiring of me_.

 _The feeling is mutual, turning people that think about killing me into actual killers. Because, honestly, who_ _ **hasn't**_ _thought about how easy shit would be if I were dead? The Older brother was going to have an ever-growing list of candidates on his hands._

I closed out of the notifications and refocused on the man that simply lay in front of me, nearly comatose under the weight of what actions he had apparently taken against me, but rallying as he realized what I was saying. I nodded at him and turned to leave the building to start packing for the trip I was leaving for at the end of the day.

My point still stood, the man was a big boy. He'd get over it himself.

I jumped when my Scroll began to vibrate in my pocket, pulling it out and squinting at the screen in confusion.

* * *

My eyes darted between Cosma and the smoldering pile of wires in front of us. Hesitantly I reached my hand out and tapped the lightly charred construct as Cosma took a healthy step back, but despite our caution it didn't explode.

Again.

Cosma took the opportunity and stepped forward to point an accusatory finger in the direction of her partner, "So this is where you snuck off to, huh? Trying to replace me with these two, huh?"

" _Snuck off.._? I was **dragged** here by little miss moneybags to help her put together this _monstrosity_!" He growled as he wiped at his forehead, and continued to grumble under his breath, "... _Couldn't tell a hammer from tongs_..."

"What was this thing supposed to be?" I hedged as I eyed the odd grouping of people that were in the room. Roman, who looked exhausted, stood next to Shebul, who looked naturally similar, while Emily stood proudly in between them. I noted the clear lack of dirt and soot on her clothes and hands while Roman looked like he had taken a roll through a mine.

"A prototype for a new weapon," Emily reported with a glowing smile, hands on her hips. My eyes roamed the table and found a rather… _crude_ blueprint alongside a few more technical designs that had been crumpled and tossed aside. " _Lúin Celtchair_ isn't mine, and I want to design my own," She sniffed in disdain at me, "Though I suppose I shouldn't expect a Savage such as yourself to understand. A weapon is an expression of someone's uniqueness, someone's identity as an individual, and should be crafted by its wielder."

I exchanged a look with Cosma and she shrugged at me in response, so it wasn't something they taught at the school, "I don't suppose you see the issue of Roman and Shebul in this scenario?" Cosma pondered, but Emily had no response.

I turned back to her, only to find that she was back to the drawing board. Shebul and Roman shuffled closer, allowing Roman to hop behind me and begin furiously whispering to Cosma. Shebul and I watched as the pair ducked behind a table and began their exit strategy, only for Emily to disappear in a burst of speed and reappear in the doorway in front of them.

" **Where do you two think you're going? We ain't done yet!** "

I only heard two defeated sighs as she smiled at them in a disturbed way and cracked her knuckles and Shebul yawned beside me. I pulled the man down as a bench passed over our heads and the three devolved into a brawl. I caught the hammer that came for my head as there was a crash as the two escapees pushed their captor out of the room, and then watched impassively as she gave chase.

"I give her a four out of ten chance that she actually convinces him to come back," Shebul calmly stated from his position laying face down on the stone floor. I winced as a loud explosion sounded in the distance, shaking the walls of the building, and Shebul decided to reconsider, "Ah, Cosma has her bag, missed that. Half that, then."

"Emily is rather intent on this, isn't she?" I guessed as I looked around the room and took in the large stock of materials in stacks or hafts leaning against the wall. It looked like she planned on doing this literally until they left on their flight in two days.

"She agreed to meet with her family while we were in Mistral, and since she had told them a few months ago she had replaced her spear they asked for the thing to be returned," He informed me as he turned over and closed his eyes, "She's just a little stressed, nothing to worry about."

"I'll leave it to you, then," And that was really all that I had to say. I could think of nothing more annoying than someone shoving themselves into my issues, so I wasn't about to do the same to others. Not to mention that despite his demeanor, Shebul was a solid guy that cared for his partner enough to humor her nonsense.

I paused as I realized that Team TESL nonsense was miles away from Team ACRA nonsense.

"What brings you to the forges?" Shebul asked aloud, ' _I thought you'd been banned'_ , went unsaid.

"Cosma recruited me as a bloodhound when Roman was gone for more than four hours," I answered with a shrug, "And I ain't got much in the way of things to do before our flight tonight."

"I heard about that. Any idea why you're leaving in the middle of the night? Seems rather… _covert_ if you ask me."

"All the Bullheads are still out returning students, last I heard. Midnight should give 'em enough time to refuel and get some rest before we gotta get out of here."

"All four of the School's Bullheads are on the Landing pad," he returned casually, but I got the message loud and clear. It seemed that being around this particular group of people had taught me how to listen properly, because I was beginning to pick up on little inflections in their voices when they spoke.

Didn't mean I knew what to do with this shit.

"I'll mention it to Ash." That was really all I could promise, the passing off of information to someone who could properly use it.

"Hmm." I watched as he closed his eyes in acceptance of my explanation and folded his hands over his chest, and only shook my head as I left him to his rest. As I passed the doorframe he spoke again, "Ya know, Taylor is a real pain in the neck on our trips, always complaining about how boring we are, like its our fault she's used to your stupidity."

"Can't promise anything, but it is Solitas, and most of our trip is through SDC company towns," I shrugged with a half-smile, "I'll keep in touch."

"That's all I ask."

* * *

 _The dark night was oppressive as I was forced towards my death. It felt like my feet were made of lead as I trudged towards my destination, the bag on my back filled with all of my sins-_

My head snapped forward as an impact rung against the back of my head and the rest of my teammates dragged me towards the _metal hell_ that I was about to be subjected to, and my boots scraped across the sandy landing pad. For a moment I cursed myself for not investing in the Perk that made me immune to Knockback, but I was snapped out of it as molten fingers clamped down upon my ear and _twisted_ until it threatened to tear off my head.

"It's a bullhead ride, not your execution, you imbecile," Ashley snarled at me as I was pulled forward. I growled in response before gripping her arm and removing it from the vice-like grip it had on me.

"They suck _ass_ ," I whined, entirely aware of how childish I was being and finally making myself move into the barely lit cargo bay of the hellish vehicle. Cosma and Roman sagged in relief as they dragged their packs onto the thing while I grabbed Ash's in a small apology, "Ya can't blame me for not wantin' to get on it."

"I most certainly can," she retorted as she slid into her seat along the right side of the passenger area, Slowly and deliberately knocking on the door for the Pilot to signal that everyone was now on. "You're the one that petitioned my mother for the trip, surely you knew that a Bullhead ride was necessary to cross the Ocean. Now sit down and, what is it that you usually say?" she pondered as I sluggishly approached and flopped into the seat next to her. I shot her a depressed glare as she smiled sadistically at me, " _Take ya lumps_."

My glare slid from her to Cosma when she snickered at my predicament, and she grinned at me unrepentantly from across the cargo bay of the Transport Bullhead, quietly placing earbuds in her ears while Roman pulled out his notebook and began to write. I could only watch in dawning horror as the doors all swung closed and my friends all began to make themselves busy so as to not have to deal with me.

"Traitors," I grumbled at them as I heard the engines flicker on. In preparation I chanted the Stain Family motto to activate **[Purge]** to counteract the effect of Airsickness. My lips peeled back as I bared my teeth in fear when the transport shook in place as ascent began to take place. The feeling of steel and coldness fell upon me as my Aura imposed itself, and I grit my teeth as the debuff slowly began applying itself.

Then I smiled ferally as I watched it tick back down and disappear as the spell took hold. ' _The world challenged me, but I will win!_ ' I thought with glee as I endeavored not to move and break my concentration.

The buzz of an intercom interrupted my mental cheers, the apathetic voice of the pilot washing over the 'cabin', "Uh, I hope everyone is buckled in, because there's a hot front moving across the North Vacuoan Gulf, so expect some turbulence in the near future." My head leaned back against the wall as the little box on the wall crackled into silence and I felt my world begin to shift as winds tore at the metal hull.

 _Well_ , I thought blearily as I settled in for a certainly painful trip, _At least I'll be power leveling_ _ **[Purge]**_. _Silver lining._

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **[Quest Page]:**

 **[Quests];**

 **-[Eyes in the Night]!**

 _ **Finally, a fucking normal ass expedition.**_

 **-Meet up with your SDC contact.**

 **-[0/9] Requests completed.**

 **Rewards; +750 exp and + 2 Free Points per Request completed.**

 **[Companion Quests];**

 **-[Three Scoops]!**

 **-Cosma's Little sister is lost in the South-Western peninsula of Atlas. Start your search there.**

 **Rewards; Increased Relationship with Cosma Politan, [?], + 20 Free points, and 10000 exp.**

 **Failure; Death by dishonor.**

 **-[Ash and Burn]!**

 **-Help Ashley investigate the Rumors of a Maiden on Mantle!**

 **Rewards; + 10000 Exp, + 20 Free Points, + 10000 Reputation with [Ashley Charbon], [?] Trait, and -1000 Luck.**

* * *

 _Alright, there's the chapter._

 _For a few of the reviews, I thought I'd address it here; Austin is an impulsive person. He makes decisions on his whims, and often this doesn't make sense to those around him (Such as when he and Taylor are in burgess and he agrees to be arrested instead of fighting and winning). He does not enjoy killing, he enjoys fighting. He kills when it is the most viable alternative, and feels very little in the way of remorse. This is not because he doesn't feel emotions, but because he thinks that everything has a price. The price of endangering his friends is your life._

 _It is that simple._

 _Next Chapter is The gang landing on Solitas and getting started on their requests._

 _That's my piece said, Any issues or messages you want to pass along, go ahead and review. Thanks for reading and all that._

 _Jericho Out._


	42. Level 4: Part 4

_Interlude A_

* * *

The smell of bleach clung to the air in the still room, the only disturbance the single human methodically working on a table in the middle of the room. The large industrial sized equipment sat quietly in their spots on the sterile metal tables, with only one humming lowly as it thumped onwards. Lightly humming sat their master, his white lab coat hanging down the back of the chair as he waited for the process to complete.

Music wafted through the room, and the man's foot tapped to the beat as he watched his machine work. He slowly and methodically flipped through the pages in front of him, matching the flips with the rhythm of the machine. So close, and yet so far away. He looked over his shoulder to the rest of the sterile lab, all of the machines that could be buzzing and providing him answers, _hopefully_ , and then back to the white box in front of him.

He let out a slow breath and waited for it to finish, hating the inefficiency of it all hinging on a single outdated thermal cycler. He looked over at the clinking glass vials in their holders, only the rubber stoppers blocking the smell of iron and blood from disturbing his lab. He grimaced as he remembered where he acquired the samples, the tingling in his fingertips where he could remember holding the needles.

Drawing blood wasn't something that he could leave to newly acquired helpers.

Without thought he reached over and got more hand sanitizer in response to the thought of his hands, no matter how many pairs of gloves he was wearing, touching his… _subjects_. If only there was something to clean his soul.

"All for a good cause," he muttered to himself, the mantra being the duct tape holding his sanity together. Flashes of memories, sterile cells, sterile floor, and sterile bars. Scrubbed clean of his filth. "All for a good cause, all for a-"

A loud _ding_ interrupted his chant, as the cycler spun down to a stop and he was grateful. One success away from his goal, and that success was tantalizingly close. He pulled out the rack of samples, and placed them on the table in front of him with reverence-

"Good news, Professor?" A voice that creaked like a century old hinge startled him, and only quick reflexes and dumb luck saved days worth of work and pain. Had it been anyone of his new _hires_ he would have turned around with a scowl and a stern talking to about following contamination protocols, but he held the reprimand back and instead took in a deep breath to calm himself.

"A step closer to success is always good news," He responded as he scratched at the patches of scales that crept up his forearms. He kept his eyes on the hooded figure, whose cloak seemed to absorb the pale white light of the laboratory without issue, the folds of cloth giving no indication as to the man inside. Only his hands were visible, the skin pulled taut over veins, arteries and bone in a show of age that belied none of the strength that he had seen when his _helpers_ needed to be _convinced_.

The evidence of the battle was still visible after nearly twelve years.

None of the new helpers questioned his orders for long, all he had to do was point to the square mile of dirt and craters where nature refused to tread and they fell in line.

How they could even manage to muster rebellion against the aura of sheer _power_ that emanated off of the man, if he could even be called that anymore, he had no idea. Huntsmen strayed out of the bounds of human possibility when they needed to, achieving superhuman feats and becoming more monstrous for but a moment. He was the opposite.

His benefactor made himself appear more human when he needed to. It was always subtle, and always terrifying when you only realized who you were talking to after he had vacated the premises, and your tongue had been much looser than you might have wished. The feeling of danger subsided and was replaced with a feeling of false security. Had he not been subjected to it so many times, he might have been at ease.

As it stood, he was even more anxious than before.

"And the newest Subject, Good Doctor?" The tone of his voice showed no new information, but he knew that he was expecting something.

"We've had her less than a month," He hedged carefully, not daring to move and earn the man's ire.

It didn't work.

One moment the old man was situated near the equipment on the other side of the room and the next he was in his face, his darkness swallowing the lights of the laboratory and the smell of steel overpowering the smell of antiseptic. In the back of the confines of the cloak two lights appeared, his eyes glowing intensely as he stared him down. "Beaten by a child? Is that the line of reasoning you're giving me?" The eyes pulsed with each word, with some power that the Doctor never wanted to become acquainted with. The terrifying presence was back, now uncontrolled in its intensity.

But that didn't change the situation.

He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat and set his face as much as he was able before answering, "She is willful, stubborn, and all too aware of what she is worth. She knows that we won't let her die or harm her in any significant way, though I doubt she knows what we want from her."

Underneath the eyes a wretched smile broke through the darkness like a stroke of a sword, "She is a child, no matter how well connected her Family is. I would be confused if she knew anything about your project, seeing as it was scrapped years before she was born." As he spoke his smile stretched, and a shiver worked its way down his spine as he realized that his smile was filled with teeth too sharp to be human or faunus. The man was a walking garbage disposal, and it certainly explained the grating and tearing quality to his voice, "She seems to be giving you exactly what you need. What is the issue?"

"She refuses to use her Semblance, rendering the rest of the information useless," He explained with no small amount of hesitation.

The figure backed off minutely, taking a few steps back as though it mattered with how fast he could move, and pondered the situation that the project was in. It continued on for a minute or two before the questions couldn't hold themselves back.

"Was it such a good idea to go after such a high value target?" _And draw so much scrutiny onto our operation here?_

The figure didn't even grace him with a look as he answered, "You asked me for a new subject and I delivered a target. If we were able to be found then we would have been found a long time ago."

"Of course," He returned apologetically, but he felt none of the regret he tried to fake. Caution was necessary for any scientist to learn, to know their own limits and limit the amount of error in a given experiment.

And he was continually aware of the fact that he knew nothing about the limits of his employer.

"If the girl is as willful and stubborn as you say she is, and I have no doubt the veracity of the statement given her family's reputation, then I fear you will have to force her into a corner to see her use her Semblance."

 _He couldn't mean-?!_ "Kidnapping is bad enough, but _torture_?" The need to clean his hands grew immensely at the thought.

"Nothing so barbaric," His benefactor assured with a much less urgent tone, "Simply think of it as an exhibition. A tournament among our subjects, to gather data on their semblances in use. Have them fight for amenities and niceties, things I'm sure that they'll be missing or longing for."

"And if she refuses to fight?"

"I doubt her opponents will give her the option," He smiled cruelly as the vibrant orbs disappeared into the darkness along with the smile and began to fade from the room in a swirl of black smoke, "See it done, Connors. And remember; It's _**all for a good cause**_."

The cackling laugh that echoed through the room haunted him, but not nearly as bad as the orbs that had been hidden in the hood that shook him to his core. Red and inhuman.

The eyes of a Grimm.

His eyes tracked movement and he looked out the windows of his laboratory to the hall of cells and a few of the guards watching the subjects, _children_ , their exercise. He shuddered and returned to his samples, repeating his calming words under his breath as he went back to work, because the cloaked man was right, no matter how mockingly he seemed to say it.

"All for a good cause."

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

The sun shone high in the sky, once again in its correct position after the long arctic summer. The sun managed to push a bit of warmth into the light, but still the world seemed intent on keeping the place frozen. Birds chirped happily, and a snow hare decided that now was the time to make a grocery run. The only noise that broke the serenity of the gently sloping hillside was the sounds of boots crunching on frozen grass.

And the grumbling curses that came with them.

"Three _fucking_ days," The voice was hoarse from the cold air, but seemed mostly unbothered by it. Instead large gloved hands pantomimed strangling a neck that was nowhere to be found, "I've been out here in this gods-forsaken dump for three days. No towns, no old farms, no mysterious cellar doors that just _had_ to be some booze runners stash from a hundred years ago or something! Nope, _just snow and rabbits!_ " With a flourish he whipped his hand towards the unfortunate animal without even looking as his Revolver appeared in his hands and he pulled the trigger.

The bullet whizzed in between the thing's ears, scaring the thing out of its wits and sending it into a panic as it tried to flee the area as quickly as possible. The sound reverberated throughout the country-side, causing the birds to fly off of their perches and stop their annoying noises.

...Maybe the Boredom was starting to take its toll.

...Or maybe it was the fact that he had run out of Booze two nights ago. It was one of the two, dealer's choice really. He sighed to himself, wishing once again that Reedy was here to keep him company, before flooding his eyes with Aura. Tracks and minute details became highlighted for him to see, and he whooped with joy when he saw the yellow tracks of human footprints less than forty feet away.

He knelt down in the snow near a print and examined the notification that popped in front of his eyes.

* * *

 **[Tracks found; Size 13 Hiking Boot. Time range; ~5 days - Present]**

* * *

"Hiking boots? Did Kenny ever buy a pair of those?" He scratched at his hair in confusion before stilling, "Wait a minute, Size _13_?" WIth a groan he sat down and nearly threw his right foot at the mark, comparing the sole of his own Boot with the track.

The Notification dinged glibly, and John would swear to whatever Deity actually existed that it did so mockingly, as it changed.

* * *

 **[Match Found! Tracks identified as [John Copenhaver's Boots]! Time range; 3 days!]**

* * *

" **GOD DAMMIT!** I'm goin' in circles, out of Booze, and... out of my league! **FUCK** ," He narrowed his eyes at the empty ass field, with only four or five trees in view and not a soul there to witness his outburst, which was part of the problem to begin with. He raised a finger and pointed it into the afternoon air, to the world in general, "Kenny will never know I said that, he'd never let me forget I said it."

He waited a moment, as though expecting Kenny to materialize out of a **[Shadow Step]** or simply walk out from behind a tree and give him shit, but no.

It was just him and an empty field.

...Maybe if he clarified for the world, and perhaps any invisible little shits hanging around, then something would happen. Looking around with a fierce scowl from his position seated in the frozen grass, he cleared his throat, "Ugh, Hmm. Kenny is better at sneaking than I am at tracking, there I said it. Happy now?"

The world gave no response, and he could only sigh in response before deactivating his **[Detective Vision]** with a hiss. He rubbed at his eyelids as the flesh of his eyes regenerated from the bizarre skill, and contemplated his options.

On one hand, he could cut his losses and return to Mantle, but be forced to listen to Reedy fangirl over the oh-so-wonderful works of every dead dumbass who smoked some medicine woman's herbs and fancied himself a scholar.

Fuck that.

On the other hand, he could still cut his losses and find the nearest town with a bar and drink it dry. Maybe even let the drink give him insight into how he could find Kenny. And if he were lucky, which he always was, then he'd run into something that could help him while he was there.

He pulled up his Mini-Map while he adjusted the strap of the large rifle on his back, mumbling to himself as he perused the selection of towns listed, " _Fjall_? Hell no, the place wasn't even big enough to have a well, let alone a Bar. _Halvoen_ was burnt down and scavenged to hell and back," He continued scooting around his map before looking south towards the coast, " _Guldkusten_ , eh?" He squinted at it, and he felt a tingling in his fingers as he considered it, the exact sensation that signified one of his Traits acting up.

He smiled as he placed a marker and was rewarded with a highlighted path, "Sounds stupid as hell. I'll fit right in."

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

I managed to stagger out of the Bullhead with barely a shake in my legs, even if my Aura was running at full tilt trying to keep **[Purge]** running. I ripped my bag and Ashley's from the small alcove that served as impromptu luggage and hobbled down the ramp towards solid ground, thanking Nan for the Family words.

* * *

 **[Purge], Level 11;**

 _ **Speak thee the words of the divine and the World shall listen!**_

 **Costs 2000 Ap [Bypassed by Mantra].**

 **-Remove 11% of Target's Debuff, 22% when cast upon yourself.**

 **-Targets gain 120 Hp regen per Second, 43 Second Duration.**

 _ **Can only affect one target at a time.**_

* * *

The spell was a great tool, allowing me to heal others and myself. A hundred and twenty health wasn't much for me, but for others that was a tenth of their health pool or so. A single use of the skill could bring a normal huntsman from their deathbed to half health. The issue, that I had found through testing during the flight, was that it only affected one thing at a time instead of a cooldown timer. This wouldn't normally be an issue, as it is a powerful buff, but the duration was increasing with the level of the skill _and_ my Res.

In other words, the stronger I become the less I can use it. A small part of me wanted to stop grinding it so that I could keep that timer low, but the more sensible part of me realized that removing debuffs was much more important than any type of healing, which my natural regen covered. With that thought in mind I activated **[Reinforcement]** , simultaneously grinding that skill for the passive bonuses, **[Aura Control]** for the potential to actually use my Aura as I strong enough already that I no longer needed to use it as an _explosive_ , and then **[Purge]** to heal whatever tissue damage the training caused.

* * *

 **-[Reinforce], Level 9!**

 _ **Feel the Burn.**_

 **-Increase physical stats by flooding your muscles with Aura.**

 **Passively increase Str, Dex, Con, and Agi by (Lvl/2)% = 4.5%.**

 **Actively increase Str, Dex, Con, and Agi by (Lvl*5)% = 45%**

* * *

 **-[Aura Control], Level 8!**

 _ **Pump it.**_

 **-Raises the Minimum and Maximum value of Aura Technique Failure Chance by 1% per level. Current values = 88% Max, 13% Min.**

 **Boosts Ap Regeneration by 8%.**

* * *

I quirked an eyebrow at the change in flavor text before closing out of the Notifications that I had been focusing on for the past eight hours. At least the training was working.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and shook the cobwebs out of my head as I stepped onto a barely paved space that this small fishing town considered a landing pad. The bullhead immediately began to take off and return to the Campus, and I was quite impressed by the amount of time that the pilot could go without sleep. I ignored the dirt and gravel that the thrusters kicked up as they rebounded off of my skin and I made my way towards where the rest of my Team were in an escalating conversation with a few of the locals.

"-problem here, hope you're ready for somethin' like that," The man who was speaking was a burly man, with thick arms crossed over a large gut. My eyes sought out his nametag as he continued to talk in a long draw that made it seem like he was falling asleep mid-word.

 **[Richard Hookman]**

 **[Level 9 Waterman]**

 **[** _ **Steady as She Goes**_ **]**

"With all due respect," Ashley responded as I came to a stop next to her while Roman and Cosma stood together and behind us, as though they were trying to hide from the conversation and failing miserably, "A den of Beowolfs really is not that big of a deal for Huntsmen-in-Training, especially not a Team that has as much combat experience as ours. Rest assured, we will see it done," I listened patiently, even as Ashley poured it on thick to get the point across.

I saw his eyes squint and slowly move across the Team, pausing on Ashley and Cosma for a moment too long for me, before his eyes met mine and he smirked back at me unrepentantly. "Well, ya look like ya can hold yer own, I can give ya that," He admitted with a nod before his smile fell, "But I already lost seven people ta these assholes. Five men, a woman and her child. Don't need ta add four more ta that list, hear me?"

"I get the feeling that you didn't read our file," Roman remarked sarcastically, drawing the man's attention to himself and earning a hoarse chuckle for his trouble.

"Nah, I ain't got much time for readin', too busy workin' nets," He paused for a second and blinked before smiling widely, "Or Drinkin'. One of the two," He smiled at Roman, and I felt my hackles raise at the way that his smile didn't quite meet his eyes, but if the way Ashley's eyes were turning cold were any indication, I wasn't the only one who saw it. The glimmer that could have easily been mistaken for amusement intensified and his smile turned familiarly feral as he spoke, "Oh good, ya got good heads about you too. Makes my job easier."

"No idea what you mean," Roman stated cautiously, and despite the ease at which he sat his fingers tapped against his weapon in its inert form at his waist.

The man only chuckled, "Call it a tradition or a warning, I don't care which," He shrugged when he said this, and I could smell the iron-laiden smell of old blood when he did alongside the shuffling of taut fabric, "And as the only person in bad enough shape to not go out on a boat this morning, it's my job to give it. You're in Solitas now, kiddos, and I'll only tell you once; Watch your backs."

I watched as the rest of Team's spines seemed to straighten in response to the blunt warning, unable to nuance around what their instincts had been telling them. The small feeling of unease, that something wasn't right. I felt it now, and I could tell for certain that it wasn't bloodlust.

"The people 'round here ain't what you'd call… _friendly_. They honor deals, not common courtesies. Trust someone to do what they tell you they're going to, no matter how unlikely it might seem at the time," He made eye contact with each one of us, before tapping the bandage that was threatening to split when no one made a move to speak, "Someone tried to gut me the other day. These things happen 'round here, and no one'll care. This ain't Mistral with that world love crap, it ain't Vale with all those little polite handshakes. And it certainly ain't Vacuo where everyone needs each other. You're in Solitas now. Do your work and you'll be rewarded, but that don't mean someone likes you or sees you as a friend. Someone who pays you one night might stab you the next. Don't push unless you want someone to push back, understand?"

"Surely someone enforces the rules around here, a sheriff or Mayor-" Ashley started, having finally found her voice and felt the need to rebel against what was being laid out, but was swiftly shot down by the gruff and cynical man.

"The last Mayor is the one that gutted me. Didn't survive the attempt," A deathly silence fell over the three and he nodded, apparently satisfied with his work, "Glad you understand. This place is hard, the people had to be harder. Self-reliance is _essential_. And you four," He announced as he tapped a finger into my chest, "Are huntsmen, in all but the paperwork. You do things that no one else can, and your very existence is a slap in the face of every man or woman on this half-frozen turd of a Continent."

I understood completely, and every sentence that fell out of this man's mouth made sense to me. I _loathed_ leaving work for others or asking others for assistance, and I can't even frame it as pride. I just expect myself to be able to cope, and when I can't due to luck or lack of skill I get a bit angry. The person who helps me isn't at fault, but they are a reminder that I couldn't do something. These people, or at the very least the man in front of us, seemed very similar. I shot my eyes over to my friends and took in their apprehension and decided to try and say _something_ , even if it just made it worse.

"Who shat in your breakfast?" I asked caustically, causing my team to snap out of their thoughts. The older man simply barked a laugh at the query and didn't even seem fazed.

"The Brothers, every fuckin' mornin'," He grinned at me maliciously, before sobering and pulling out a slip of paper to flap in our direction, "Look, I know your mission, it's a simple one; find and kill the Grimm that took our people. Do your work, and no one'll look at you sideways."

"Is that why the Mayor tried to gut you?" Roman questioned with narrowed eyes, nodding at the man's wounds, "You weren't doing your work?"

The man's face soured as he looked him up and down, "Careful what you say, whelp. People been killed for less 'round here. And no, he wasn't doin' his. Didn't take kindly to me and a few of the men tellin' him so." He looked back at Ashley, who he could now see was the leader if only by how we were positioned, "People die out here, a lot. You get used to it, or you leave for the city."

"Took your people?" Ashley caught the odd phrasing as she ran his words over in his head, "You haven't recovered the bodies?" When the man shook his head, "Then how do you know its a den of beowolfs when you don't have wounds to match them to? Surely there are sightings in the area if that's the case," Her gold-amber eyes watched him like a hawk, looking for anything else that he could give her on our Mission.

"Someone who's gone for more than three nights might as well be dead, and it's been nearly two weeks," He informed her frankly, his tone clear and concise. This was not a point to be debated in his mind, "'Specially when they said they were comin' back the same day they left. Now we're down six workin' hands and a Lumber cart. If you find them and that cart still intact, it's the only thing I expect to be brought back. And _we_ didn't say beowolfs, the schmuck from the SDC said that. Told us that it would get Huntsmen out here at a lower price. He was right."

"What a warm welcome," Cosma groused from the back of our group, still hiding behind her partner.

"Valeans shake hands when they meet, and stab each other in the back later on down the line. We don't have the energy for that," He explained with a smirk, "Don' know how they do it in Atlas or Mantle, but out here in the sticks the least useful person in town meets people landin' and lets 'em know what to expect. Now you know the rules, which means you can play the game. Have a good time kiddos," And with that he turned and hobbled away, evidently to drink his pain away.

I watched his back as he began to whistle a tune as he walked down the barely paved path towards the collection of seashacks and docks that extended out over the water.

"Home sweet home," Cosma said bitterly as she tightened her pack on her shoulder, "Could we get out of here as soon as possible, please?"

"Don't let that man get to you," Ashley reassured as she tried to keep the disturbed look off of her face, "What he said couldn't be true-"

"He's not lying," Cosma cut her off, much in the same way that the Fisherman had, and in the same matter-of-a-fact tone that he had spoken with the entire time, "They don't care about life, all they care about is Family and Fighting. The worst insult for these people is saying they can't fight something, second worst is saying that they _should_ do _anything_. They don't lie, and they don't do politics. Either they agree or they disagree, all simple like."

"I was hoping he was an exception," Ashley whispered in resignation and horror, slapping a hand over her mouth before both her and Roman looked over at me.

"A continent full of _Austins_ ," Roman echoed as though he had seen a ghost, and I gave him a surly glare in response. He chuckled in response, though Ashley still looked like she was having an existential crisis.

"Let's get moving. Creepy he may be, but he was right about one thing. We got a Mission to do and I don't feel like spendin' any more time here than I need to," My statement got a round of nods and a ' _Hell yeah!_ ' from Cosma. Ashley blinked for a moment before she regained her composure and pulled out her Scroll for the Objectives we had on a list.

* * *

 **Quest Received; [Grimm Tidings]!**

 _ **Strangers in a strange land, take comfort in the familiar. Even if that does involve a bunch of dead fishermen.**_

 **-Clear [?]**

 **Rewards; 500 exp and + 2 Free Points.**

* * *

"We aren't sleeping here, that's for certain. If I have my way, the only time we ever see this dump is to report back after our mission," She glanced up from her scroll and I followed it to the house, agreeing with her assessment. The place looked like it hadn't seen a visitor in years, let alone have a place for them to stay. Though, when I turned back to the others, they were still looking in the direction that the guy had disappeared. "Our target is twelve miles northeast," She continued as she pushed her glasses up her nose, and I could see the gears turning in her mind as she processed everything so far. "Roman keep an eye out. Cosma, be ready to go under the radar at a moment's notice, consider it training."

I activated **[Instinct]** and confirmed that the surly old sailor was the only person in the small town even as Ashley set off towards the large gate in the walls, that seemed to be made out of the pieces of old ships welded together into a barrier. It also seemed to be mostly for show, if the way that the town was a veritable flotilla ready to be cut free from shore to float away the moment shit hit the fan. And then a gust of wind came off the water, and the rusty ass wall made the most unholy noise I have ever heard.

After it died down and I could hear myself think again I realized that it was just a giant tripwire to wake up people if Grimm showed up.

The small shacks I could see were set up in similar fashion, with wood salvaged and reused in place of true mill wood. The largest building in the town was what looked to be the shipwright's shop, if the multiple hulls surrounding the place was any indication, and it seemed to be the only building that wasn't able to be packed up at a moment's notice. My eyes darted to the barges connected to the shore and mentally noted that Vacuo and Atlas had very different kinds of nomads. My ears were working overtime as waves crashed against rocks and the salty wind whipped up in a fury. The sun hovered on the horizon and I was struck by how familiar this place felt to me; the taste of salt and iron on the wind, the rocks and sea right at my fingertips, and the absolute individualism of the people.

I tried to remember if Nan had ever described where she had found me, but the most she had said was " _Frozen ass forest_ " and that wasn't anywhere on the Map. Fenrir had said that he used to live on this continent, and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion when I realized that he was being remarkably quiet. I thought about trying to get in contact with him but realized the rest of the team had been spooked and had left me behind in their haste to leave the town behind.

* * *

We learned very quickly that twelve miles on Solitas was very different than twelve miles in a desert. A trip that should have taken thirty minutes running at full tilt quickly began to eat up time as we were forced to go around massive piles of rocks, too small to be called mountains and too severe in incline to be called hills. Trees on the supercontinent of Sanus were large and foreboding, yes, but here they were so densely packed that running through a forest would be asking for an injury.

So instead we were forced to keep to the plains and tundra, only barely managing to scale a sheer rock face due to my ability to leap like a flea and carry passengers, and follow the line on my Mini-map.

And the biggest change I noticed was the amount of animals running around.

Deer, bears, raccoons, and a bunch of other things I'd never seen in more than a pair were roaming in packs and climbing trees like a scene out of a movie. Birds flew away from our noisy bunch as I thundered through the wilds. Less humans, if the maps and settlements listed were any indication, and much more wildlife. The signs of predation were clearly visible as we moved, causing us to stop and check for human remains twice along the way.

I picked up the pace as we approached the location of our mission as the sun shined happily overhead and was quickly lost among the trees and rocks. I mulled those words over in my head, and I tried to find the fear or unease that the others seem to have found, but couldn't seem to find any. Instead I focused on matching the local plants and any wildlife to any names I could recall as we ran towards our objective.

The silence wasn't foreign to our little group, with me and Roman it was a normally silent affair with the possibility of a catastrophically loud outburst if I got amped. But this silence wasn't one of contemplation, but of ill ease. I was by far the slowest among us, and they still managed to set a pace I could keep with **[Trample]** , but they didn't do so consciously. They moved slowly and cautiously, as though for the first time recognizing that we were always in enemy territory.

And to think it didn't even come from an ambush, just a little talkin' to from the local welcoming party.

I shrugged off the inane thoughts as we closed in on our destination, the signs of violence clear and unhidden at the foot of the forest with blood and viscera still staining the chilled grass. **[Instinct]** laid out the clear signs of a struggle, if not what I would call a fight by any metric, with the smell of blood and people in an obvious fan pattern as they tried to flee from their toothy deaths.

Roman knelt down in the brush and began rummaging even as Ashley and Cosma took up defensive positions with hands on their weapons. I agreed, idly wrapping my chain tightly around my left hand and extending **[Instinct]** by quite a large margin to keep an eye for anything important while he worked, searching for signs of our quarry. A different smell began to make itself known, but while it was passingly familiar I couldn't quite place it.

"I think they were trying to cut some of these trees down," Cosma said as she looked around, and I had to agree with her assessment. There was a single tree that had managed to be felled, and axes that had been left behind among the splotches of blood, "But we passed like at least three forests closer to town than here, why the hell did they come all the way out here?"

Ashley pulled a single blade out and lightly ran it down the nearest tree, coming off with a small sliver of bark on the end of her blade, "The other forests were Pine, evergreens. These are Birch," With a flare of Aura the piece of bark erupted into flame, "Birch sap is an accelerant and the bark goes up like a rag soaked in gasoline. As far as firewood goes, this is worth the trip. Tinder, kindling, and fuel all in one."

Cosma just sort of stared at her for a moment, before squinting at her as Roman continued to look for tracks of some sort. "How'd you learn that? Did your semblance come with a manual on what's easier for you to burn?" Cosma asked, half-seriously.

"No," She said seriously, "Trial and error mostly."

"No tracks," Roman called out from a little deeper inside the woods, "None that go anywhere at least." I met the eyes of my partner and moved towards him to see what he meant, trying to understand what combination of information was trying to pierce my dense mind before another notification popped in front of my eyes.

* * *

 **Warning!**

 **Entering Dangerous Area; [Den of the Vargir]**

 **Recommended Level: 34**

* * *

 _ **Clear this Dungeon to gain control of all Spawning Pools that it is connected to.**_

 **Spawning Pool(s); 1.**

* * *

The echoes of howls pierced whatever barrier existed between Dungeons and Reality, and **[Instinct]** began to act up as it tried to process the information. My Mini-Map flickered to the Auto-Mapping setting for Dungeons, but it quickly returned to normal alongside the disappearing howls. I could hear bubbling in the distance, along with the sound of something moving in the liquid. Feet on grass as they began to sprint towards our Position.

I blinked as I realized what was happening, cursing myself for being so stupid. "Grimm!" I called out, dismissing the notification and unfurling my weapon as three Beowolfs launched out of the woodwork, landing in between me and my team. As I watched they grew larger and their nametags showed them gaining levels before my very eyes until it came to a stop on a level.

 **[Level 22 Beta Beowolf]**

The Lupine Grimm was much more animalistic than the newly formed beowolfs that looked more human and walked upright, with long white spines that erupted out of flesh that was still forming. The three let out roars as two launched themselves at the others and one charged me.

I met its charge with a **[Block]** , catching its gaping maw on my arm. Its teeth scratched at my skin and began to break through as I slammed an empowered uppercut into its throat. A gale erupted from the wound as black ichor flew into the air and I effectively decapitated my enemy. I pushed the body off of me as it began to dissolve and watched as Aurafire and Dust began to explode as it came into contact with the Grimm. They didn't even come close enough to take a swipe before they turned into motes of Black that disappeared into the air.

I rubbed at the teeth in my jacket and the tiny bit of blood that was seeping out of my wound as my regeneration began to remove evidence of the fight. The Grimm were most definitely strong and easily capable of razing towns of civilians, but…

 **[Cosma Politan]**

 **[Level 33 Mesmer]**

 **[** _ **Mass Confusion**_ **]**

 **[Roman Torchwick]**

 **[Level 34 Eternal Novice]**

 **[** _ **Long Fuse, Bright Results**_ **]**

 **[Ashley Charbon]**

 **[Level 37 Elementalist]**

 **[** _ **Ashen Princess**_ **]**

Team ACRA wasn't something to be taken lightly.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Ashley demanded as we regrouped, with them still standing at the ready.

I pointed through the trees, towards the sound of bubbling tar and the noxious smell I had been smelling, a mixture of ozone and sewage. "Nasty fuckers came from over there," I directed them, wondering just what we would find. Not five minutes of slowly and cautiously stalking through the woods later, the four of us peered out from the treeline that surrounded the thing, with a wide berth where nature refused to take root around the nasty thing. The black bubbling liquid left quite a bit to be desired in the scent department, and quite a bit more in the scenery department.

Looked like someone was boiling tar, and the smell supported the theory.

I looked around at my team, who were all readying their weapons and pointedly looking at me, the looks seeming to say " _You first_." With a raised eyebrow I shrugged before **[Projecting]** a rough rendition of a Knife into my hand before unceremoniously tossing it into the clearing. It landed with a _thunk_ in the dead mud surrounding the pool and I felt the shoulders of my comrades tense in response. When nothing happened Three pairs of hands slammed into my back and sent me stumbling into the clearing.

The moment I broke cover, the bubbling intensified and I heard something moving in the sludge. A single massive paw, bare of flesh and muscle erupted from the pool and slam onto the edge, using the leverage point to raise the rest of its bulk into reality. Before my eyes flesh grew on the set of bones, blackened and viscous, moving up from the pool until its the skull, filling the vessel and making the two eyes glow bright red as they stared directly at me. The thirty feet of Muscle bore a striking resemblance to Beowolfs, but it was most definitely a quadruped.

Which, if what I remembered Fenrir telling me three months ago was true, meant that this thing was impressively old.

My eyes went skyward and I could only watch as its nametag continued to change, until it rolled over and stopped on the last number.

 **[** _ **Skali**_ **]**

 **[Level 74 Vargir]**

 **[** _ **He Who chased the Sun**_ **]**

It pulled itself out of the pool and shook the remnants of the fluid form its bone plates and spikes, before letting out the loudest roar I'd ever heard. The trees buckled from the sound and the dirt rattled under my feet as the very ground yielded to its fury. Its massive claws dug into the same ground as it began to bunch its hind legs in preparation for a powerful lunge.

 _I blame the Brothers._

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 **Name: Cosma Politan;**

 **Level 33 Mesmer**

 **Str: 28**

 **Dex: 89**

 **Con: 28**

 **Agi: 132**

 **Int: 66**

 **Wis: 160**

 **Cha: 94**

 **Res: 82**

 **Traits:**

 **[Cunning]; + 1 Cha and + Wis per Level.**

 **[Trap Master]; + 50% Damage with traps, - 25% time creating traps.**

 **[Weak]; - 10 Str and - 10 Con, can be removed.**

 **Name: Roman Torchwick**

 **Level 34 Eternal Novice**

 **Str: 73**

 **Dex: 131**

 **Con: 73**

 **Agi: 102**

 **Int: 102**

 **Wis: 160**

 **Cha: 68**

 **Res: 86**

 **Traits:**

 **[Natural Born Thief]; + 100% experience gain with [Stealth], [Lockpicking], and [Pickpocket].**

 **Name: Ashley Charbon**

 **Level 37 Elementalist**

 **Str: 70**

 **Dex: 219**

 **Con: 37**

 **Agi: 112**

 **Int: 180**

 **Wis: 74**

 **Cha: 175**

 **Res: 135**

 **Traits:**

 **[Alluring]; + 25 Cha when dealing with the opposite gender, + 2 Cha per Level.**

 **[Well-Trained]; + 50% experience gain with Weapon Mastery Skills. + 1 Dex per Level.**

 **[?];?, + 1 Int per Level.**

* * *

 _Woof. What a chapter. Let me tell you, being an essential worker is ass and hell on schedules. Everyone else is calling out and you feel compelled to not because then_ _ **nobody**_ _gets what they want._

 _Pay is good though, I'll give you that._

 _So, establishing what the characters are going to be doing, even if you don't see them, when they are not focusing on the Cosma and Ashley Companion Quests by showing the first and by far most eventful of the Missions that the SDC set up as their cover for being there._

 _A change of mentality that comes with being in mountainous and more isolated cultures, mostly as a pun on the name of the continent "Solitas" which is Latin for loneliness. Made sense for the people to be staunch individualists and not nearly as welcoming to outsiders._

 _The stats of his friends for context on how they stack up against yaboi, and you might notice something right off the bat. They have a lot higher stats than Austin, in general. As in, their stat total is actually much higher, with Ashley almost having double the stat total._

 _This is because he traded total points for the ability to choose where they go when he became a Gamer, while the others have more but less control over where they go._

 _A few nice reviews, but nothing much to respond to, though I am happy to see people putting in a lot of thought and effort to give me criticisms to work on. Makes me happy. Also, to ThatTacoGuy, the explanation for the Gamer in world is coming, and has been foreshadowed. People just seem to mistake it for other things all the fucking time._

 _As always, review if you've got a comment or question, love me some questions._

 _In other news, the world has gone a little crazy. Stay safe out there, folks._

 _Jericho Out._


	43. Level 4: Part 5

_Interlude A_

* * *

Light blue eyes watched the sky as clouds drifted by over the Manor and the landing pad, covering and uncovering the sun at a moment's notice. As the ambient color of the scenery continued to change, she heard the sound of metal on metal and boots clanging around the Bullhead behind her as she stood at attention.

"Ma'am," Came a brusque voice from behind her, one she readily identified as her father's personal pilot, "All checks are finished, we're ready to leave when you're ready, Ma'am," He finished his brief report with all of the pomp and circumstance of an atlesian veteran, the _clunk_ of boots and slap of a hand on his chest signalling his salute.

 _Of course,_ she thought acerbically, _the one day the man finishes his checks on time is the one day I need to stall for time_. She bit down on the desire to snap at the man, and instead turned to look at him over her shoulder while maintaining her best impression of her father.. He straightened in place, and despite the black mirror of his visor she could tell that her look was having its desired effect; Anxiety.

It worked on her, and surely worked on others.

She let him squirm for a moment, mostly to make him less likely to bring up her lack of haste to her or anyone else again, before replying aloud, "Good. Prepare for take off, I'll be on board shortly." He accepted this without much fuss, moving a little too quickly to not let her in on his wish to be away from her, and she turned her attention to the Mansion once more, watching for movement.

Between the Automated defenses, mirrored windows, and large foreboding walls nothing stirred save for the clouds. As her hands began to itch in anxiety, alerting her that she was nearing the end of the time that she could possibly stall, she saw the first sign of movement from the house, the door closest to the Landing pad opening to allow passage to one slightly overweight and dumpy looking man, no matter how well pressed his uniform or how well polished his pocket watch, Winter could never shake the feeling that he'd be more at home in the mines than a Mansion.

Relief spread through her at the sight of the man, though she was careful to keep it from showing on her face. Klein was a good man, a good man that watched over her Sister and kept Whitley entertained.

Neither were easy tasks.

He quickly entered her space, and his brown eyes held their normal warmth as he smiled from underneath his moustache, "Miss Winter." The formality was a bit of a game between the newest generation of Schnee's and the Butler, both of whom were well aware it was unnecessary after this long of knowing each other. But Father had let them know, in no uncertain terms, that appearances must be maintained no matter the situation.

And so Klein had taken to only being familiar with them in front of their father, and simply blamed his absent-mindedness when the issue was raised. No visitors ever voiced concerns, nor did any tutors, leaving only her father to look like the unreasonable one if he decided to reprimand what appeared to the outside to be an elderly man.

The four of them revelled in the small rebellion, even if Whitley only did so because he was being included. Six was such a simple age.

"Klein," She returned with a respectful nod before diving into the reason for her still being there, "I was under the impression that Weiss would be returning from her latest trip today, just in time to wish me well. Have plans changed?"

The brown eyes faded to rusty red as a light snarl came across his face, "Plans stay the same, It's reality that's the issue today, ma'am." Brown returned as quickly as it left, though the displeasure stayed, and she was handed an envelope by the man before she could digest the words and change in personality, "But I think it's high time that you left for your trial run before others get suspicious. I just came in your father's stead, as he so carelessly _forgot_ , to inform you that Weiss was delayed and will be unable to send you off," In a move that was highly uncharacteristic of the man no matter the mood, his eyes darted between the Bullhead and his shoulder in the direction of the Mansion before he bowed to her. "Best wishes, Winter."

Months- _Years_ of training to read other people and a room all came to the forefront as she quickly put together the picture as she discreetly pocketed the envelope in her breast pocket and returned the bow in appreciation, before mimicking the man and turning on her heels and striding into the Bullhead, snapping at the co-pilot who was smoking a cigarette by the passenger entrance to leave immediately.

The man fumbled his lighter as he rushed to put out his smoke and clambered onto the small ship to scuttle the small crew to lift off. She maintained her impassive guise as she moved past them as they began securing anything that could move while the copilot nearly ran for the cockpit. She closed the door to the private room before she let dread that had been pooling in her gut come to the fore and tore the envelope open.

Cold hands opened the small note, revealing that it was neatly written and plainly spoken.

' _Weiss is missing, as are those that she was travelling with. Her vocal coach called in to report that she had missed her appointment three weeks ago. Foul play is obvious, but no one has gone public to take claim. No body, no terms have arrived either.'_

As her fingers crinkled the paper in her hand her mind ran at full tilt, trying to pull information from the paper like blood from a stone. Her eyes narrowed in hyperfocus as highly controlled adrenaline hit her system and she rode it out as she took in the punch to her gut. She tried to pinpoint any changes in the housekeepers or employees, before realizing how futile that would be.

She hadn't been told, and Father wouldn't have told some random housekeeper. This was being kept from her for a reason. _Did he suspect her..?_ She shook the thought from her head, _Even he wouldn't doubt me on this one. She's my sister._ She took in a deep breath and tried to center her thoughts, and mimic the thought process of her father, but she was too frazzled.

Instead, as the Machine finally began to take off, the only thing she could do was lean back against the door and slump to the floor, crumpled paper in hand and with tears in her eyes.

" _Where'd she go?_ " She heard footsteps on the other side of the door and quickly pulled herself together. She was a Schnee, which meant that she was expected to be composed. She wiped away the tears quickly and opened the door, once again staring down the Black Mirror of an SDC issue helmet.

Now was not the time for weakness. Father would either find Weiss before she returned or she'd kill him for this, that she swore. Keeping business matters from her was one thing, but this was her _sister_.

No quarter would be given if whatever scheme he was banking on didn't pan out.

She schooled her face back into her bland and non-threatening facade when the young man in front of her looked near passing out, and instead calmed herself. ' _Schnee's do not lose composure,_ ' She told herself as a means of calming, ' _They do not scare their employees on accident, nor do they swear holy wrath on their Fathers._ '

But Winter most certainly did.

She pressed her concerns into the back of her mind as she was presented with the Packet for her Month long expedition from a shaking hand and devoted herself to the distraction with everything she was worth.

The thought of the team she was _guiding_ and the fact that she was already running late was the only thing stopping her from hopping from the vehicle and stomping back to the mansion to tear her _completely untrained_ father a new asshole.

* * *

 _Interlude B_

* * *

She looked up at the soft iridescent lights in the ceiling, counting the lights as she walked in an attempt to keep her attention. The stiff white cotton of her new clothes would have been easily ignored if not for how they itched, and instead she focused on the cool tile on her feet as she walked.

Anything to distract her from the two armed guards escorting her.

She was used to armed guards, in fact it was one of the more consistent things in her life. Usually, they walked behind her or at her sides, not leading her like a prisoner on death row. There were no bars on the windows, but she was trapped all the same. Seven years old was a little too young to be planning a jailbreak, even if she were a schnee.

Even now, her kidnappers watched her. She heard them talking, taking bets on how long she lasted without the luxuries of her home. How long she'd last in her cell, and their impressed whistles when she lasted two weeks without leaving her cell, not making a fuss or calling for guards at the drop of a hat. There was a desk with a pen and paper, a toilet and every four hours of daylight food was slid into her room, and it was an altogether bland room that seemed designed to make someone bored, maybe break down their minds.

Every day around Noon the Doctor came in, a polite older man with graying green hair and vibrant green eyes. Despite how well she had been treated, much better than her father had warned her about, she knew that there was very little that she could do. The large imposing form of the Warden leaned against the door behind him, his arms crossed over his leather jacket and a frown on his bald head. For whatever reason, she felt it to be in her best interest to follow orders.

They treated her brusquely, but fairly considering the circumstances. They also treated her like she was about to break.

And that was how her last half of a month had been spent, waking up with the sun, sitting in her room contemplating life and the ins and outs of kidnapping, all the while scratching with her pen at paper. There was shame in the action, she had been on a timetable since before she was born, but it didn't make it any distressing. Nor did the fact that she partook in an art that had been cleared from her timetable since she was five.

She was a natural talent at singing and playing instruments was the only thing that came close. She smiled lightly as she remembered the rather… _crude_ rendition of her room that was sitting on her desk at the moment. She may not have been good at it, but it was enjoyable. And Winter enjoyed seeing them, which was always a plus.

What her captors didn't seem to understand was that this had been the most relaxing few weeks of her life, and the only price for this new found relaxation was a few vials of blood.

But today the monotony had changed, and the guards had told her to follow; She was being introduced to the rest of the ' _Patients'_. Her eyes tracked the numbers on the walls, labelling the cells in a simple numerical pattern that only had two digits. Her attention was stolen as a small din of noise alerted her to people, _children_ , ahead. There were very few things that could mimic the ruckus that they made. The long corridor, with its two elbow turns, opened up into a larger area that had tables packed in, with groups of children all clamoring and talking with each other.

As she was marched into the Room between the two guards she saw a young kid with bright green hair and equally bright green eyes catch sight of them, quickly slapping the arm of the girl sitting next to him, a girl that Weiss could politely say hadn't missed any meals. She schooled her face as best she could as one by one eyes began to turn towards her procession, but she was a little inured to attention at this point.

A relatively gentle jab of a gun stock tapped against her Aura and got her attention, the guard behind her cleared his throat. His "uniform" was made up of a leather jacket covered in composite plates that shifted with him and the rest of the guards moved, and the metal masks that covered their faces distorted their words and covered their faces. Almost every guard looked and sounded the same.

The only reason she knew this was the same man who had been bringing her her food were the feline claws on the fingers that clutched his weapon.

"Alright Princess," She specifically didn't react to his sneered insult as he pointed out the way that the cafeteria works before swatting her again and joining the other guards in a separate room and she was left standing there alone.

Or as alone as you can get when you're being stared down by a group of twenty children.

In spite of all of this change, she simply did as the man said and grabbed what food she wanted from the buffet style line of food heaters. From how little was left, it seemed that she was the last straggler by far. When she was done she looked around to find the most empty spot she could, easy when the other children were grouped up, and sat down. With any luck she could eat and go back to her room, maybe finish her poor drawing.

She was startled from her rudimentary planning by the sounds of people shifting into place around her, four other children filing into her table with one to her direct left and the other three on the other side of the table. Notably, the green young man and the rotund young lady were holding her gaze with something of a smile. She took in their appearances, noting that they all looked to be a few years older than her, not quite teenagers but not quite children. They wore the same white cotton outfit, and she could see something in their eyes that put her on edge. Not quite dangerous, but enough to unnerve her for certain.

"Name's Kenasi," introduced the green-haired boy, who had dark skin and white teeth. He gave her a toothy smile, "No offense, but this place ain't that big, and I think I'd remember you."

"Weiss," She gave them in hopes that it would be enough, "My Name is Weiss." She specifically didn't mention her last name, knowing full well that issues lay on the horizon if she did.

"Nice to meet ya Weiss," The large girl responded, "You can call me Meg," She stuck a meaty paw in her direction, and she daintily accepted the shake. She hid her wince as her aura buckled and crackled under the force of the girl's hand and instead waited for her to let go. She did so with the same toothy smile of her friend, who immediately began to fill the space with words.

"Okay, look," He said to get her attention as he leaned in and the other three began to straighten in their seats to cover the conversation, "We gotta good thing here. They feed us, they clothe us, and we don't have to work. That's a better deal than any of us thought we were gonna get in life, get me?" She nodded in response, and he continued after staring at her for a second, "Then it's real simple; Everyone does what the guards want, and everyone has a good time. One person doesn't and _nobody_ has a good time, get me? So listen to the orders, and we'll do the same. That's how we get through this."

"Get through this?" She questioned aloud as her prepubescent mind ran at full tilt, "Do you have a way out of here?" She leaned forward and whispered the question as well, just to mimic the young man in front of her. He probably had a reason to do it, so she might as well follow suit.

He looked around, just to check that no guards had come out of their special lunch hall, before he explained it to her, "Some people are out of here in months, but others have been here for years. Me and Meg here are the two oldest here, and we've been here the longest so let me give you some advice; All they want out of you is your semblance, that's it. Show 'em just enough to keep 'em interested, but if you tip your hand you'll be out of here in no time. It's up to you."

He continued, listing out guards and descriptions of other kids that weren't in the same block of lunch as them today, but she was still stuck on why she was here. Her eyes hardened at the thought, just as they had when the Doctor had mentioned it to her before. Her Semblance wasn't just hers, it was Winter's, and it was her Mother's. She wouldn't be giving them _anything_. It must have shown on her face because Meg thumped a hand on the table, rattling her out of her thoughts, "How long were you in your room?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes in thought, before responding cautiously, "Two weeks?" She took the moment to grab some of the food on her tray, all of it greasy, nasty, uncultured, but entirely edible.

She nodded at the words, "And if you don't give them something, it'll just be you and your cellmate for another two weeks," She looked around at the people at the table as they gagged and scowled at the prospect, "And it doesn't matter who you're bunking with, that ain't a great time."

She let the confusion she felt slip onto her face, "But… I don't have a cellmate?" She grabbed another fry as she listened and siphoned as much information out these people as she could.

Kenasi raised an eyebrow at her words, "They'll stack people three deep in a cell before they put someone in their own cell. Ya don't _look_ like your lying-"

"What cell are you in?" Meg asked her with a striking amount of urgency in her voice. Kenasi and the two others also stilled, as though they had come to a similar conclusion with their eyes wide and pupils small.

"11?"

" _Shit,_ " Before she could even question them on the subject all four of them fumbled their way away from the table. She could only watch in stupefied silence as they all fled from her in near hysterics, before looking around for some unknown cause, but the guards weren't here, nor was there some Grimm looming over her. So instead she simply returned to eating her food, albeit with some added caution. She held eyes with the others who had vacated her table, but they quickly averted their eyes.

She couldn't help herself, thoroughly weirded out from the abrupt ending to their encounter, "What's their problem?" She reached for the small bowl of ice cream she had grabbed, only to find it missing, and in its place a folded piece of paper. When she looked up for the culprit, she found no one looking her way or avoiding her any more than before. She cautiously unfolded the paper, finding her lazy rendition of her cell had somehow followed her out to the lunch hall.

The right corner of the room, the corner directly opposite her bed and the one that she had been planning on finishing when she got back from lunch, was now finished for her in scratchy lines and childlike ability.

The oddity was that instead of the blank corner she had seen everyday there was a bed and a desk that mirrored her own, and sitting… standing? With the ability of the artist it was hard to tell.

But what was obvious was the stick figure had long hair, a mouth full of sharp teeth and a knife in their hand.

* * *

 _End of Interludes._

* * *

The orange light of fire reflected off of the cloud cover above, stealing all light before it could arrive at ground level. The splinters of wood littered the ground in puddles of blood and Ichor, with all the latent snow turned to mud and slush under pounding feet and paw.

My arms came up in an instinctual **[Block]** as the beast rocketed forward, its bulk doing little to slow it down. Its bone white mask slammed into my forearms and the force of the blow made me ring like a gong as I flew away from the strike. I grit my teeth as a tenth of my health fell away from a single strike despite my physical defense, meaning that this thing was doing somewhere around forty thousand damage a charge.

 _Shit_.

The trees that splintered on my back as I thundered through the forest went ignored as my eyes tracked the massive beast that was chasing me. My feet flailed uselessly as I sailed through the air, and as the Beast caught up to me it was all I could do to sigh and activate most of my defensive skills for the incoming slap. The meaty paw sent me careening downwards with an explosion of dirt, rocks, and wayward trees as I crash landed on the forest floor.

Without hesitation I rolled to my left and jumped away as the sixty foot long Grimm landed in the same spot not a moment later. I spun on my heel and put about half of my Hp and all of my stamina into a **[Thundering Blow]** , easily coming out to about seventy thousand damage in one shot. The air in front of my fist erupted into a gale as **[Splash]** increased the surface area of the punch, and simply the air pressure of the blow hit the area in front of me, like a flat plane of destruction that tore up the ground and anything in the way.

I leapt backwards as _Skali_ shot out of the dust cloud and slammed both paws where I had been standing. I dove under the beast as it swiped a paw towards me, feeling the two foot long claws rip the air apart as they moved, and slammed my chain covered left hand into the thing's elbow. Immediately, My aura flashed into movement, flaring up at the base of spine and racing down my arm as I activated **[Shatter]**. It roared its defiance as its forelimb was sublimated by the explosive energy, and a grim smile tore across my face before I was moving once more.

I rolled with the kick it planted into my back and let my weapon uncoil from my arm with the motion. I swung the chain in an underhanded motion, ducking under a tree trunk that came sailing for my head, before whipping my arm back in a sharp motion. The chain cracked like a whip as it jerked violently to send the hooked end into my opponent's jaw, easily cutting through its skin and mask to send cracks spiderwebbing along the mask.

I felt a burst of heat from my left as an orb of orange aura shot out trees and rubble of the petrified forest to slam into the thing's mask, vaporizing what was left of its head. I slumped over as my Stamina quickly returned to me and I yelled into my mind, ' _Fenrir!'_ I quickly looked over the notification as it popped up, just to make sure nothing had changed as I waited for his response.

* * *

 **[Grimmnir's Phylactery (** _ **Skali**_ **)]; Estimated time to activation: 3.5 mins.**

* * *

I watched as the body of the lupine Grimm smoked lightly as it entered the beginning of rapid decomposition, my ears twitching as my teammates broke from cover and spread out in front of me, weapons at the ready. They had recovered from their previous encounter with the Grimm, thought their clothes had most certainly seen better days.

"Austin," Ashley barked at me as she futilely began to burn the body down to embers, "I would like information, any day now." I nodded grimly as the smoke stopped rising off of the body, reversing directions to return to the supposed corpse. The fire burned away at the flesh, but it still returned quicker than she could stop it.

* * *

 **[Found it! Too many curses in this thing under that header, seems ye Olde Grimmnir was a bit curse-happy, and this one was the only one that had anything like a description. The curse is one of false immortality that ties the Grimm to a specific Spawning pool and forces them to revive as quickly as possible, a process that is not fun by any means, Boss. The pain must have caused him to go crazy, probably can't understand what's happening right now.]**

* * *

' _Ah yes, oh woe is him,_ ' I returned acerbically as I watched my Hp tick back to full before I went through my skill chains that made fighting this thing possible, ' _How do I get rid of it?!'_ My fingers were still numb from the last bit of Aura that I had pumped through them, but it was leaving just as quickly as the cuts and wounds were. I winced as a particularly nasty gash knit itself back together on my back around some of the fabric of my shirt.

The left arm had been torn off in a particularly nasty exchange with the overgrown mad dog. I had ended that fight with extreme prejudice, reducing him and the surrounding areas into a fine Grimm, dirt, and Tree flavor smoothie.

* * *

 **[It seems that he had a particular fondness for enchanting items to act as containers for curses, made it easier to have as many curses as he had going at one time without using all of his Aura-]**

* * *

' _So I find whatever the fuck is holdin' this thing here and break it?'_ I yelled into my mind as I exited out of the notification that rambled on even further about the habits of the Grimmnir, the same man that he had fought and killed hundreds of years ago. Normally, I would've found it interesting, possibly mentioned it to my teammates at a later date, but Roman had taken a few hits already and had nearly bit the bullet with such a normally small mistake.

' _Thanks, Furball,_ ' I thought dutifully as I exited out of the message, ' _Tell me about it after we're done with this,'_ Outwardly I relayed it to my team as quickly as possible, "It's going to keep comin' back until we break the thing that it's soul is stuck in."

Three bewildered pairs of eyes turned to look at me, and I couldn't help the defensive "What?" that came out as a growl. Cosma huffed a sigh as she began to dig through her bag for ammo, readying for their turn to deal with our foe, and from the exhaustion tugging down each of their shoulders I realized I was experiencing something I never had before.

Maybe I'd underestimated the psychological toll of trying to fight something that simply refused to die. Fatal blows turned aside, limbs regenerated, and it _would not_ _ **stay down**_.

I hated seeing the effects of it in my friend's forms.

" _Grimm have souls_?" Ashley asked, breaking me from my thoughts quite effectively while also sounding for the first time since I had met her like she was truly out of her depth. Narcissistic warlords she could handle, but the thought of Grimm being genuine alive was too far. Got it. I blinked at her, before realizing I never quite told them about the passenger that I had riding on my soul, or the bit about me being not quite human.

' _Fuck_. _I should deal with that later,'_ I grimaced as I realized how easily I could butcher that and get a few weapons in vulnerable places, ' _Or I could just ignore it like before and explain it if or when it comes up. Hopefully never, because I do not have the time nor patience for an existential crisis.'_

Before I could even respond Roman shook off the confusion and narrowed his eyes at me, "You mean like a phylactery?" He was looking the worst for wear by far, being the one designated as bait for the monster while they took their shift fighting it. His clothes were torn and covered in mud, not to mention the rather pungent Grimmsblood.

"Yeah," I agreed easily, glad to see that someone knew what was going on without me putting every fuckin' clue in their face. He slapped a hand against his forehead before dragging it down his face at my response, which I thought was an interesting response to figuring out how to defeat an enemy but whatever floated his boat.

"There was a necromancer crazy enough to make this crazy Guard Dog _literally_ Immortal?!" He growled into his hands, finally eliciting a true reaction from our companions.

Never stopping her liberal spraying of flames over the nearly levelled forest, Ashley called over her shoulder, "Less melodrama, more explanations, please." The wind that whipped up from the heat blew her hair back and away from the scene, the light of the fire seemingly pulling the ambient light of the cloudy day from the air, and the light reflected on her glasses, but I amber eyes still looked back at us, waiting for an answer.

Waiting for a way to kill it for good.

My eyes darted between the three, and I realized that they all were eyeing me up with the same steely eyed, determined look. All prepared to do basically anything to end this thing, only for the reason that it had dared to attack the Team, and could possibly attack the nearby civilians. That was all the reason they needed to put an end to it.

Maybe I was rubbing off on them.

Roman's eyes, despite the determination I could see in them, were in a far off place as he went over whatever little information he had on the situation, "Destroy the Vessel and it'll let this thing die correctly, right?"

"That's what it said," I confirmed with a nod as my eyes roamed around the place as Fenrir filled in my notes section on whatever the hell a Phylactery was. It turns out, Its one of the many ways Northern Speakers returned from the dead. Stick a part of your soul in an object, and instead of being scooped up by the Elder Brother you slowly pull your corpse back together to fight another day. Made you live on as a dried up mummy corpse though, so I could see the obvious downsides.

Downsides that didn't seem to apply to Grimm, if the decidedly-not-desiccated Corpse of _Skali_. Quickly reformed in front of my eyes, for like the tenth time.

About two hours of fighting, and Fenrir had only just found the page he was looking for.

How many fucking Phylacteries had this Grimmnir Fuck made?

"Austin already leveled the Forest," Ashley returned between breaths of exertion, and I could feel the satisfaction of watching the Grimm burn pulse through **[Dominion]**. The worry wasn't even trying to hide anymore, it seemed watching your enemy revive a few times made acting like you were above humanity a little trivial.

Might have to try that tactic on an enemy in the future.

"How big do these things have to be?" Cosma queried as she rifled through her bag, slowly but surely making a few makeshift bombs.

"Big enough to write a few sentences on," I answered as I continued to read and think, "Bout the size of a Football, since we're talkin' runes. They aren't the simplest of letters, needs a bit of detail to do it right," and by the brothers was this one functioning properly. "It has to be within two hundred or so feet, though, so there's that.

"Silver Lining," Ashley teased with a lilt to her voice, and I only knew she was taking the shit because I could feel the amusement like it was my own. I gave her a surly look and she spun with a flourish to flash me a quick smile as she continued to dance a dance of blades, with the added spice of fire.

"Buried?" Roman pondered as he stood and limbered up, ready to deal with the thing once more.

Cosma snorted and pointed to our right, where a fifty foot wide Crater had compacted and thrashed the soil nearby, making it clear just how secure _that_ idea was. If it had been, it wouldn't be in one piece at this point. Even a metal chest would've crushed underneath our fight.

"Assuming its a solid object," Ashley thought aloud as she finally stopped moving, catching her breath as she had put a usable amount of fire on the field, "Would liquid stop it from being destroyed from all this commotion?"

"Prolly," I answered, though Ashley snorted at my response. It was probably a rhetorical question, but I didn't care. A question deserved an answer, it was that simple. **[Instinct]** quickly mapped out our surroundings, and a few calculations for distances before I gave her a quizzical look, "You thinkin' the Spawnin' Pool?" She nodded, and I responded by quickly slamming my foot in an empowered stomp that rattled the earth, causing loose dirt to fall into the Pool.

I was quickly met with the sound of sizzling.

"Don't think anything delicate would survive in that thing," I responded as the other three gave me half-hearted glares.

"How does a dungeon affect location?" Roman asked, seemingly from nowhere. When I gave him an odd look, he clarified as our enemy began to spasm to life, "As in, if the thing was in the dungeon or another parallel dimension would it still count as within two hundred feet?"

"Uhhhh," I answered intelligently as another notification popped in front of my face.

* * *

 **[I don't see anything in this page about that** _ **not**_ **working, so he might be onto something there.]**

* * *

I closed out of the message and grumbled about being used as a translator, before nodding in confirmation.

"Process of elimination," Cosma said as she reloaded her Shotgun, "Level the Dungeon, destroy anything you can, and that'll either solve the problem or narrow our solutions."

I looked to my leader for confirmation, but **[Instinct]** alerted me to another issue just as the countdown ended.

A ragged breath pulled into lungs that should have been too chargrilled to stay in one piece let alone operate, and Cosma flickered out of view as her Semblance activated. A shockwave rocked the area as the beast let out another roar that shook the ground and charged our position. Roman dashed to meet it as Ashley went high. The Shepherd's crook caught the wrist of the paw as he swung with the force of the blow, turning and slamming the haft of the staff into the side of its mask, stunning it for but a few seconds.

Ashley fell from her arc with swords ablaze with orange aura coming down in an X of fire, digging into the thing's back. It roared it's defiance before smashing Roman through a tree and preparing to lunge at Ashley while she was in freefall. A large round of Dust slammed into it's side and it whirled around to where the attack had originated, only to find it empty.

Roman stood up and blinked blearily before shaking off what was most definitely a concussion and charging back in. I watched with grim satisfaction as they worked together to steadily chip away at it, in an effective strategy that at this point was well tested. Ashley and Cosma did the heavy hitting while Roman set up openings and tried to take as little damage as possible.

I cringed when I remembered that the only reason that this strategy was working...

* * *

 **[Dominion], Level 12.**

 _ **Respect my Authoritay!**_

 **Impose your Soul upon another in a Battle of Strength of Wills (** _ **Res vs Res**_ **)** _ **.**_

 **Number of Souls under [Dominion] = (Lvl + Res/10) = 25 Souls.**

 **Bonus to Str, Con, Dex, and Agi for those under [Dominion] = 6%**

 **Souls under [Dominion]; [Taylor Chesterton], [Ashley Charbon], [Servico Liath], [Roman Torchwick], and [Cosma Politan].**

* * *

Was because Ashley had convinced me to use **[Dominion]** on the rest of the team.

If it wasn't currently giving them the edge they currently needed to win, being just a little stronger, just a little more robust, and just a little quicker, then I'd have felt even worse. But as it stood, I could block out the new additions to the skill easily, only getting the Emotional response if I focused on them just like the others.

It was easier to stomach binding my friends' souls if I ignored it and focused on the good parts.

I watched as they continued to fight before wondering just how to enter the **Dungeon-**

* * *

 **Warning!**

 **Entering Dangerous Area; [Den of the Vargir]**

 **Recommended Level: 34**

 **[Y/N]**

* * *

 _ **Clear this Dungeon to gain control of all Spawning Pools that it is connected to.**_

 **Spawning Pool(s); 1.**

* * *

I glared at the notification as though it had insulted me, before accepting the prompt. Waiting would only mean that my team had to wait that much longer for the end of our regenerating enemy, that much longer avoiding a potentially deadly blow.

My eyes ignored my surroundings as they grew and cracked and turned into a true dungeon, and instead I activated all of my Skills to prepare for my destruction of this little slice of reality. The smell of ash that clogged the air did very little to deter me as I grabbed the length of my weapon and swung it in a circle. With a twist of my wrist it coiled downwards, wrapping my arm in a makeshift gauntlet to replace my lost armor. I took off with **[Trample]** , into the depths of the dungeon, some unholy pine marsh made of ash. The trees twisted together above my head in an approximation of a crown, but I paid it little mind.

The quarters were tight, and the situation was deadly.

When the first enemies lunged at me from the shadows of a corner, I wasted no time and flew into motion, the current of motion that I fell into being the rhythm I only knew as "The Brawl." My fist smashed into a snout and sent the first opponent flying before a large and sharp set of teeth latched onto my forearm. My left arm came up and gripped the Beowolf by the throat before I pushed my arm further and further into its jaw until the entire top of its head exploded under the pressure. The last Beowolf launched through the remains of its brother to try and catch me in a spear tackle to take me to the ground, but my knee came up and crunched through its mask.

A flick of the wrist and the hook of my chain disengaged, a flourish of my arm and it began to unspool. I ignored the Hp cost of **[Overclocked]** and the Stamina cost of all my other skills as I activated **[Night-vision]** to deal with the confines of the dungeon, what with the bleak light that barely pierced the branches. My vision began to pulsate with the steel of my aura until it covered everything, and I could easily make out the Beowolf I had sent flying in my first attack, and I flung my chain up to shoot out and catch its leg.

It howled in anger as it came careening back to me, but I silenced it in a mere moment as my empowered fist hit it, creating a shockwave that sent the ash flying away from me. All the Hp I could spare went into a **[Thundering Blow]** as I came upon the room they had been occupying that shattered every stone and lose piece of wood therein as well as spawning about a thousand signs of **[Invincible Object]** as the attack hit.

I didn't stop running as I crashed through the bodies and continued forward.

The swelling feeling of my Aura, the sensation of a cool piece of metal on my skin, and the lack of doubts that propelled me through life, came crashing down upon me, pushing me forward once more. Images appeared of my teammates fighting something beyond them and something gnawed at my soul. The picture of the devastated landscape that we had created while Fenrir tried to find out how to put it down showed itself, and another bite was taken out of my soul.

My fist tore through enemy upon enemy, my chain pulling those that were launched from the force back to be made into mincemeat. My feet stomped through this bleak world, picking up speed as they became covered in the Grimmsblood, only changing tune to bounce off a wall when I needed to **[Lunge]** into a group of enemies to properly deal damage. My mind catalogued what went wrong, when enemies made it past my limbs and I made sure to not make the same mistake again. I adapted to the flow of combat as I broke my way through this hell.

The Steel of my Aura sowed itself as Words began to thunder through my head.

 **Hesitation is not an option**. **Failure is not an option**. **End the threat**.

This was a test, I knew. A test that I was giving myself, to test whether or not I could trust my teammates. **[Dominion]** was deliberately quiet as I did my work. I was to do my part and they were to do theirs, and that was how we would go through the rest of our days.

I needed to know if I could trust that.

I kept my heartbeat steady, my mind clear and focused on my target. A target that was constantly switching as the number of my enemies quickly thinned, only to be replenished as I worked my way through the tunnels of wood and ash. Rooms turned to tombs as I worked, tunnels into graveyards. Nothing that lived in this Dimension would be an issue for me or my friends if I had anything to say about it.

Doubt didn't exist in my being. Every swing was sure, no matter if it hit or missed. Every blow was my best, was what I thought needed to be done was done without a second thought. The last time I had doubted was when I had realized how easy it would be to farm levels by killing people, and while the option existed I had never questioned that decision.

I skidded to a stop in a large open room, a room that had a pool of Lava in the middle and a doorway on the other side, and I immediately realized that it was a mirror image of the Spawning Pool that I had seen not two hours ago.

I was entirely unsurprised when a skeletal hand shot out from the Pool, clawing at the ground in an exaggerated motion while bones climbed out of the Pool. I waited for my Hp and Stamina to tick to full while it climbed out of the oppressively hot substance, and I could feel **[Exposure]** kick in to stop me from getting light-headed. My enemy didn't seem to have the same issue with the heat, seeing as his skin oozed lava and the heat warped the air around him into a fluttering mess that made my aura coated eyes hurt.

 **[** _ **Hati**_ **]**

 **[Level 74 Vargir]**

 **[** _ **He who chases the Moon**_ **]**

I let out a breath as the black flesh filled in the skeleton that immediately began charging at me. My knowledge of Games told me that the key to ending this was through the door behind it, but it was quicker than me, technically stronger too. Probably had a larger Hp Pool.

And unlike its brother, this one seemed to be made of _lava_.

 _How strong had this Grimmnir fuck been to have caught and tamed these two?!_

My feet skidded backwards as I caught its swinging Paw on my forearm, screaming in pain as the flesh sizzled in response to the contact and I lost nine thousand Hp. I slammed a fist forward into the things chest, sending it toppling back, but even that had caused my Hp to drop by about six thousand health.

But pain was temporary.

I launched forwards and slammed my weapon into the steaming Monster, but it caught my chain in its mouth before I could even think to stop it. It pulled a move from my playbook and yanked me towards it before delivering a wicked headbutt. I slammed into the walls of the room, petrified wood as unyielding as steel. I dodged out of the way as it followed in my wake, slamming off the wall and following me closely. I caught the top of its jaw in my hands and pressed one foot against the bottom row as it tried to swallow me whole, and I thought I had staved off a painful death before what _should_ have been spit dripped onto my arm and _melted away the skin_.

It quickly became a game of which would break first; my arms or my pain tolerance. I was slammed around the room as it began thrashing and I pumped **[Second Wind]** to try and keep up with the damage that simply being in its mouth was causing, but much like it had when I tried to pick up something much too heavy my Stamina was quickly making itself scarce.

My mind ran a thousand miles a minute, ignoring the roars of my soul that demanded I win and continue on without any true advice.

I focused on my shoulder where the blob of magma had fallen and noticed that while my skin had been removed, my bones with their nine layers of **[Osteogenesis; Hardening]** were still intact. I grit my teeth as I realized that this was going to be a risky maneuver and poured Hp and Stamina into **[Osteogenesis]**.

My arms buckled as it thrashed and flailed trying to chomp on me, but I called upon the soothing feeling of my Soul to wash away the pain and help me focus. I pulled the Bone through my skin much like I had with the Sword, before expanding the plate of bone until it covered most of the available skin. I started small, working my way over my fingers, and then the backs and palms of my hands, then the forearms in rough interlocking plates that could barely move, but most certainly blocked out the heat.

The process was bloody and painful, with my skin breaking and bleeding, my bones cracking in the heat before I hardened them beyond comparison. I continued to cover my arms until a notification popped and almost cost me my life.

* * *

 **[Blueprint Created!]; [Bone Gauntlets].**

 **Costs (25) 17.75% Max Hp per gauntlet until dispelled, but makes that Hand and Forearm invulnerable.**

* * *

The distraction gave my enemy all the time he needed to launch me from his mouth to impact once more against the wall, but instead of following he held his head high as his throat began to bulge and glow bright orange. I Squawked in alarm before he threw his head in an arc before letting a molten glob of spit splash in an arc around the room. I raised both of my forearms in front of my head as I fell to my knees to reduce my profile, and let the attack land on my **[Block]** instead of my face.

My elbows felt the brunt of the attack, but that was it. I swept my hands down and revelled in the new addition to my Arsenal. They were rough, and painful to create, yes, but as long as I caught an attack on my hands, I'd be fine.

A feral grin stole across my skin as my enemy came roaring in once more, and once again I caught their paw on my forearm.

This time I felt no pain and there was no hesitation as I slammed my other fist home in retaliation, **[Thundering Blow]** and all. I couldn't stop the predatory growl that overcame my frame, rumbling in satisfaction at a battle well fought, before I leapt into action.

I Ripped and tore into the beast as it tried in vain, so sure it was in its magmic defense, to rebuff me, only for me to ignore it entirely. In one desperate attempt to win I had reduced the damage I was taking by more than eighty percent, and it felt _so good_. My bone covered hands tore chunks from its hide as I revelled in the violence for minutes as I whittled away its health in explosions of damage and the constant offense I could now lay down upon the beast.

And then suddenly it came to an end, not with a roar or a whimper, but with a notification.

* * *

 **[Grimmnir's Phylactery (** _ **Hati**_ **)]; Estimated time to activation: 3.5 mins.**

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Vargir Hunter]!**

 _ **To overcome a Vargir is impressive. Tracking down his Pack to finish the job is ludicrous.**_

 **Defeat All Named Vargir; [Fenrir], [Skali], and [Hati].**

 **Rewards; [Big Bad Wolf] Trait Upgraded to [Biggest Baddest Wolf], + 7500 exp, + 5 Free Points, and + 5 Levels in [Osteogenesis].**

* * *

 **Achievement Unlocked; [Intermediate Dungeoncrawler]!**

 _ **One step at a time!**_

 **Clear 5 dungeons.**

 **Rewards; + 1 Wis and + 2 Free Points.**

* * *

I cracked my neck as I looked down at the screens, letting my displeasure at such an opportunity to let loose being taken away from me, but I took in a deep breath and let it go. I had something to do, and I needed to do it quickly. I turned away from the Lava Pits and made my way to the door made of branches and kicked it open, finding a hallway.

Not wasting anymore time, nor giving the wolf another opportunity to revive, I ate up ground as I launched down the corridor to the room beyond.

Once more I found a Stone monument that hummed with Magical energy and was covered in Blue Words. With a sigh of acceptance I placed my hands on the door that all of these things seemed to have and waited for the burning sensation as the words crawled up my arm to my chain.

Instead the Door swung inward, and I barely caught myself before falling flat on my face. I squinted at the door in consternation before I realized that the words were still moving, just not towards me this time. The flowed downwards and to the right, moving past some trinkets and bones that littered the ground to the now glowing weapon.

And in contrast to the soft blue glow of the words on the wall I saw a pedestal with a skull on it. Before I could move forward to investigate, **[Aura Sense]** activated to let me know that the thing was overflowing with it, and it was a nasty slimy feeling Aura. In my **[Night-Vision]** I could see a tendril of something snake out towards me, and the feeling intensified as it came closer. A choking sensation, like a physical weight on my larynx, and like someone had dunked me in a vat of lard.

In short, I smashed the everloving shit out of it and danced in the shards when the feeling went away. I stopped when

* * *

 **Quest Completed; [Grimm Tidings]!**

 _ **Strangers in a strange land, take comfort in the familiar. Even if that does involve a bunch of dead fishermen.**_

 **-Cleared [** _ **Vargir's Den**_ **]**

 **Rewards; 500 exp and + 2 Free Points.**

 **Bonus Objectives; Cleared within ten minutes.**

 **Bonus Rewards; [?].**

* * *

I stared at the screen, finally struck dumb with what I was seeing.

Each time, the stupid houses at the end of the dungeon had housed the _Time Trial Reward?!_

I slapped a hand against my forehead, picked up the glowing blue piece of wood from the floor, and left the stupid place as the world around me began to shift back into reality.

Basically meaning I went from one burning forest to another.

I jumped forward as **[Instinct]** mapped out my surroundings, allowing me to easily pinpoint the location of my teammates as their own battle wrapped up. I landed in the charcoal covered piece of land that might have at one point been considered a forest just as _Skali_ took a lifeless lunge for Roman, only for Cosma to appear to stuff a massive explosive into it's waiting maw.

Roman hunkered down as Cosma disappeared, before the thing exploded into a pink and black cloud of smoke and Grimmsblood.

I whooped in elation when the alert to say that the dumb thing was reviving didn't surface, replaced instead with my level up screen. Cosma managed a weak _hurray_ before falling backwards in a dead faint, while Roman didn't look far behind her. I looked towards Ashley, who was woozily standing up from where she had been smacked through about ten trees in one go, a wound on the side of her head weeping blood and her right arm hanging limply by her side.

Like someone had cut her strings, she succumbed to her exhaustion, following Cosma into a pain induced slumber.

I winced as I exited out of the menus and surveyed the wreckage of the forest. If I had taken chunks out of the place, it looked like Ashley and Cosma had gone on a rampage to take this thing down. As gently as I could, _Not very gently_ , I scooped her up and put the mangled limb across her chest to try and limit damage.

"I'm w-walking," Roman spoke dully and with obvious strain as he lifted his thankfully light partner over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, "Until we are somewhere we can set up camp. And then I'm sleeping for the next week."

It was all I could do to nod in agreement.

I would watch over them while they slept and kill anything that tried to disrupt it.

As quietly as I could.

 _Howitzers were quiet, right?_

* * *

 _End of Chapter._

* * *

 _What a doozy of a month, and what a doozy of a chapter._

 _Took me longer than I'd like, and I really hope that I can get back on to my two a month schedule that I had going for so long. I liked that rate of writing, it was something I think I can keep up with, when the world ain't going crazy at least._

 _In relation to the story, this was a combat heavy one to show how far Austin has come in regards to combat, next time will be a chapter to show how far he needs to go in regards to social skills._

 _Such as_ _ **not cheering**_ _when your friends barely survive a fight._

 _In regards to reviews, I have a few responses;_

 _To Guest; Mah Boi Austin has two ways of increasing his Force output, one is called_ _ **[Rend]**_ _which needs the object to be destroyed, and the other is_ _ **[Thundering Blows]**_ _which specifically empowers combat skills. Strain is a debuff that is applied when he uses too much Hp when using_ _ **[Adrenaline Rush]**_ _which limits movement and Damage output until it wears off. A thing that will be referenced in fact is that other things will till have a higher Strength stat, but he can do more damage do to his skills most of the time._

 _To ThatTacoGuy; I studied German and wrote this at the same time as when I was in the middle of a big meaty college course and I wasn't taking an English Class. In other words I wrote more in German than in English at the time I put this story out and the grammar stuck a bit. So, no I ain't german. Can't use the native language excuse here, I'm afraid._

 _As always, thanks for reading and if you want to leave a review, I love me some feedback._

 _Alright,_

 _Jericho Out._


End file.
